The SAP began, when formed in 1913, as a colonial police force, and it has retained features of this model long after similar forces were modernized. Historically, the SAP has focused on controlling race relations, specifically, to police the country's black population; its methods for doing so have been relatively crude and unprofessional, relying regularly on brute force. The inability of the police to reform long-established traditions of colonial-style policing threatens the state's wider reform process, since the police represent the state to many black citizens. Any transition to a nonracial democracy in the country is partly dependent on an accommodation between the police and black South Africans. The SAP must change its current role, style, organization, and structure. The autonomy of the SAP must be restricted by the state so that changes can be more easily implemented. Unless this is done, the general reform process will be stymied by police actions intended to subvert or obstruct it. A 418-item bibliography and a subject index