The South African Police Service (SAPS) will continue to track down and bring criminals to book despite the continuing “onslaught” against its members‚ says SAPS Acting Divisional Commissioner of Visible Policing‚ Major-General Michael Motlhala.
His warning comes in the wake of the killing of yet another policeman on Friday‚ which brought the number of police officers killed countrywide so far this year to 55.
The latest victim was a Constable NN Muhlarhi from the SAPS Railway Policing division who was gunned down by a group of thieves who were busy robbing a security guard in the early hours of Friday at Stratford station between Lenz and Vereeniging in Gauteng. Another policeman was seriously wounded in the attack. The robbers made off with the policemen’s guns as well as the security guard’s firearm.
“We have noticed that the factors that influence police killings and attacks emanates from our unrelenting and proactive approach towards crime and the criminals and our members are also targeted for their guns not only when they are on-duty‚ but when they are mostly off-duty and it is worth highlighting that the criminals also resort to extreme violence in an attempt to evade arrest – thereby resulting in accusations of police brutality‚ and in certain case‚ greedily made civil claims‚” said Maj-Gen Motlhala.
“Every time a police officer dies‚ we proactively communicate the information of the incident through our internal communication mediums and this undoubtedly sends a wave of sadness among our members as we consider ourselves as a family fighting for the same cause. However‚ this does not deter our members from persevering and remaining focused on our cause to bring the criminals to book and ensure that people in this country are and feel safe.
“Analysis of incidents of members who were killed on duty indicated that most of our members were either responding to complaints or were engaged in classical policing actions‚ such as arresting and searching suspects. However‚ incidents have been reported where police officers were targeted due to their involvement in the investigation of specific crimes or incidents‚ but this is a marginal number‚” said Maj-Gen Motlhala.
He said the SAPS management was implementing a comprehensive Police Safety Strategy to strengthen and ensure the safety of all members‚ which was based on five pillars:
- Government to establish a standardised regulatory framework to prioritise police safety
- Reactive and proactive intervention in effecting arrest and conviction of offenders‚ and restore confidence in the criminal justice system thus serving as a deterrent
- Monitoring and evaluation to inform prevention‚ responses‚ redress and support interventions and to determine whether the strategy is effective in reducing unnatural deaths of police officers.
“Police management is also considering implementing more measures to help in respect of the safety of our members‚” said Maj-Gen Motlhala.
He added: “It must also be acknowledged that policing is a high risk profession and members are exposed to dangerous criminals and situations on a regular basis. On the contrary‚ this is regarded more as a motivation than a deterrent‚ because we need to carry the baton and to ensure that the ultimate sacrifice made by our colleagues was not made in vain.”
Source: RDM News Wire.
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