The FF Plus is concerned about the low success rate of the Gauteng police detective services caused by shortcomings in the support system, which render detectives unable to do their jobs properly.
According to the 2019-2021 crime report, the detective service in Gauteng was able to apprehend only 28,65% of suspects linked to serious crimes. The reasons provided for this are unusable fingerprints, problems with the DNA database and other systems that are not functioning properly.
The apprehension rate of suspects linked to house burglaries is a mere 9,44%. In the report, this very low success rate is attributed to a lack of equipment, unusable fingerprints as well as a lack of evidence and clues.
These shockingly low success rates must urgently be investigated by the Gauteng Police Commissioner, Lt.-Gen. Elias Mawela, to ensure that it does not go on like this.
It is evident from the report that there are serious shortcomings at the police’s forensic department and that more officers must be trained in specialist fields. The lack of equipment and forensic analysts must urgently be addressed so as to facilitate detectives’ work.
The FF Plus understands that the task of detectives is hampered when victims are unable to identify their assailants or are unable to provide clues for a facial composition, specifically in cases without any eyewitnesses. This is precisely where the skills of experts come in.
Victims of serious and ordinary crimes put their faith and hope in the police’s detective work and, thus, police officers have the responsibility of doing everything in their power to successfully close cases and to present a comprehensive docket to the court.
In many cases, magistrates have no other choice but to repeatedly postpone cases because the forensic evidence is still outstanding.
The FF Plus will ask the Police Commissioner to compile a report and to submit possible solutions to the Gauteng provincial Security Committee.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Kobus Hoffman on FF Plus
