High crime leads to reduced police training
By Mphumzi Zuzile
Source: The Herald Online
East London – HIGH crime rates, particularly violent crime, has resulted in police reducing camp training time for new police recruits.
However, this has not been welcomed by opposition political parties in the Eastern Cape.
In the past police spent six months in training, but Parliament’s safety and security committee and the institute for safety studies found the South African Police Service was rushing recruits into service with only three months training.
Eastern Cape MEC for Safety Dennis Neer confirmed that recruits took only three months’ training instead of six.
“It has not been reduced but it has been categorised into various stages,” said Mr Neer.
He said although camp training was three months compared to six months in the past, police now went for further tactical training on how to handle firearms, defence and dangerous situations.
He said police then went for field training where recruits were taken to police stations to do investigations. “For that matter training takes 12 months. Police are empowered when they start their job.” He said training had to be adapted as patterns of crime changed in the community.
“In this way police will be in a position to enter into partnerships with communities.”
A parliamentary safety and security committee report said the high crime rate, particularly violent crime, had kept police under pressure.
A report by the institute for safety studies said recruits went straight into posts as detectives without serving time in uniform, where regardless of how talented they were, mistakes were made.
DA MPL Bobby Stevenson said: “The DA wants to see more police on the street. Any shortening of the training period must go hand in hand with an explanation of how training standards will be maintained.” He said police placed their lives at risk daily for the community, so if training was reduced his party wanted to be assured this would not compromise their safety and performance.
UDM spokesman Mabandla Gogo said the reduction of police recruit training was a blow to policing. “Even six months was not enough,” he said.
The PAC’s Zingisa Mkabile said his party had a problem with the reduction as it would affect the conviction rate.
