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Carte Blanche report: Police killings – what the numbers really tell us

Carte Blanche report: Police killings – what the numbers really tell us

Despite the recent focus on police killings, the numbers tell a different story: the scourge of officers being killed has decreased dramatically since 1994. So just why has this issue received so much attention lately? By THERESA MALLINSON and CARTE BLANCHE.

The killing of police officers has attracted much media scrutiny of late. And there’s no doubt that cop killings are a huge problem in South Africa. Carte Blanche reporter Chantelle Rutter stated on the programme’s “Cops under fire” report on Sunday: “As a police officer in South Africa, you are twice as likely to be killed (as) an ordinary citizen. In fact, the number of the policemen who were killed in the line of duty has become a national talking point: 54 this year so far.” Since that segment was filmed, the total has increased to 57.

However, dig a little deeper and the numbers, while still far too high, have actually been improving over the last 10 years. “[Police killings are] a declining trend, both in terms of total numbers of police officials being killed and… as a proportion of police per hundred thousand in the organisation,” Andrew Faull, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, told Carte Blanche. “We are seeing a sudden spike in media attention, we are seeing a sudden spike in police-management attention, but we are not seeing a spike in the total number of figures,” Faull said.

In 1994, 265 police officers were killed, according to the South African Institute for Race Relations figures. In 2000, this number dropped to 178, and in 2010 it had fallen to 93, according to police statistics. That’s still 93 dead policemen too many, but it is nonetheless an improvement. So, why have police killings been receiving more media attention than usual?

“Some cynics might argue that the shift of attention to the killing of police officials is a strategy of police to deflect attention away from the significant media attention to the abuse of force,” Faull told Carte Blanche. “There is no evidence of that, but it is a question that will remain in the air.” With the brutal killing of Andries Tatane at the hands of police in April still fresh in the public’s mind, this is a pertinent point. 

“I think that there is a problem with police violence in South Africa, of excessive force in the sense of disregarding the law and police brutality, and that people in the criminal world are aware of that,” David Bruce from the centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation told Carte Blanche. “I think it is likely to be a factor feeding into the levels of violence which police are facing.”

In response to the danger facing his officers, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa announced a 10-point plan to combat police killings in late July. The 10 steps are a mixture of symbolic gestures attempting to boost morale, some management-style speak about making the issue a priority and engaging role-players and actual practical steps such as increasing training.

In brief, the ten steps are:

  • the “adopt-a-cop” awareness campaign;
  • establishing a multidisciplinary committee to co-ordinate responses to police killings;
  • reviewing the 2000 ministerial task team’s report into police safety;
  • making police killings a priority for the Justice, Crime-Prevention and Security department cluster, as well as Cabinet;
  • providing psychological and human-resources support for families of killed officers;
  • improve training;
  • strengthen research partnerships;
  • hold provincial summits to engage the various role-players;
  • reviewing the SAPS annual commemoration of fallen heroes; and
  • flying the national flag half-mast at police stations to mourn killed officers.

While the focus of the 10-point plan is primarily on police safety, cognisance also needs to be taken of the police force’s interaction with the community. Talking about the plan’s commitment to a community-policing strategy, Bruce said: “The 10-point plan misunderstands how to do that because it isn’t about a PR exercise primarily, it is about how does police conduct themselves and engage with members of the community. So it is about these professionalism and respectfulness and a key issue is actually how police use force.”

And the stats on the police’s use of force aren’t pretty. Carte Blanche reported in June that 920 complaints about the police were made to the Independent Complaints Directorate in 2010. These included such serious charges as murder, attempted murder and assault. Captain Dennis Adriao, a national police spokesperson, told the TV programme: “Where there is police brutality, we have taken steps. I think it has been covered in the media quite extensively, police officers that have been arrested and taken to trial.”

On Monday 8 August Mthethwa, replying to a written question from DA MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard in Parliament, said that 768 criminal cases had been filed against police officers since January 2009. Among these were 516 charges of assault, 50 of murder, 94 of rape, seven of attempted rape and 71 of sexual assault. Mthethwa was quoted by IOL as saying: “These statistics are appalling and disgusting to say the least. We do not think the figures are new, but what is new is our concerted effort in rooting out such criminality”.

Rooting out criminality and brutality among the police would be a good start in mending relations between the force and communities. South Africa is a society that is used to shades of grey, but one area where we could do with some clarity is in firmly separating the cops from the robbers. DM



Read more:

  • Cops under fire, on Carte Blanche website;
  • Our 10pt plan to deal with cop killings – Nathi Mthethwa, on Politics web,
  • Police and policy: Cop deaths aren’t on us, says Mthethwa, in M&G,

Photo: Police stand behind burning barricades in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha township, June 1, 2010. REUTERS/Mark Wessels

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