Police involvement in serious and violent crime ‘is common across the country’
By Marvin Caldwell-Barr
It’s well known that corruption is rife in the South African police force; and it’s also well known that cops are involved in much of the serious and violent crime that has turned this country into a hell on earth.
Police involvement in farm attacks, murder, rape, business robberies, house robberies, ATM bombings and selling guns to criminals is well documented.
It must be said, of course, that there are good cops doing excellent work in the fight against crime. But their efforts are cancelled out by the criminality of the bad cops.
The crime situation in this country is so bad, people don’t know which way to turn anymore.
In the predominantly black townships, desperate residents now resort to mob justice as a way of dealing with criminals, who, if caught, can expect to be beaten into a coma, then doused with petrol and set alight.
But thugs are undeterred by even such a gruesome prospect.
Many whites—together with increasing numbers of blacks, coloureds and Indians—when they can’t take it anymore, simply leave the country. And these are highly skilled people South Africa can ill afford to lose.
ANC politicians try to downplay reports of police criminality as isolated incidents involving a tiny minority within police ranks.
Not so, according to a new study whose findings show police involvement in serious and violent crimes to be widespread across the country, and most definitely not just limited to isolated incidents. The researchers say the cases they looked at are just the “tip of the iceberg”.
Details so far given out of the findings of the research—which was carried out last year by the Unit for Risk Analysis at the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) and which is to be released tomorrow—show the extent of police criminality to be far worse than anyone thought.
In just one week, researchers uncovered 100 cases of police involvement in serious and violent crime. Even more disturbing was the low conviction rate, they found, of offending police officers.
And 75 of those cases took place over a 15 month period leading up to April last year. Once again, the tip of the iceberg.
It’s well known that corruption is rife in the South African police force; and it’s also well known that cops are involved in much of the serious and violent crime that has turned this country into a hell on earth.
Police involvement in farm attacks, murder, rape, business robberies, house robberies, ATM bombings and selling guns to criminals is well documented.
It must be said, of course, that there are good cops doing excellent work in the fight against crime. But their efforts are cancelled out by the criminality of the bad cops.
The crime situation in this country is so bad, people don’t know which way to turn anymore.
In the predominantly black townships, desperate residents now resort to mob justice as a way of dealing with criminals, who, if caught, can expect to be beaten into a coma, then doused with petrol and set alight.
But thugs are undeterred by even such a gruesome prospect.
Many whites—together with increasing numbers of blacks, coloureds and Indians—when they can’t take it anymore, simply leave the country. And these are highly skilled people South Africa can ill afford to lose.
ANC politicians try to downplay reports of police criminality as isolated incidents involving a tiny minority within police ranks.
Not so, according to a new study whose findings show police involvement in serious and violent crimes to be widespread across the country, and most definitely not just limited to isolated incidents. The researchers say the cases they looked at are just the “tip of the iceberg”.
Details so far given out of the findings of the research—which was carried out last year by the Unit for Risk Analysis at the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) and which is to be released tomorrow—show the extent of police criminality to be far worse than anyone thought.
In just one week, researchers uncovered 100 cases of police involvement in serious and violent crime. Even more disturbing was the low conviction rate, they found, of offending police officers.
And 75 of those cases took place over a 15 month period leading up to April last year. Once again, the tip of the iceberg.
