Human rights form a significant part of the new police curriculum, reports Tangeni Amupadhi
F ROM now on police recruits will be trained to be nice to people, replacing the old-style “bandit-chasing”. About 200 000 applications have poured in for the 1 300 police posts advertised so far. Training with the new curriculum kicks off in four months’ time, after the lifting of the three-year moratorium on recruitment.
Afrikaans has been dumped from the syllabus, and nine other official languages will also not be used. English will be the only medium of instruction. The two police unions have criticised the language decision as arbitrary. They say they should have been consulted on the training policy.
“The curriculum has changed dramatically,” said Mike Lombard, the commissioner in charge of basic training, who has been in the police for 20 years. “I’m very excited about it. This is the way the police should be going in a democracy.”
The new teaching, said Lombard, will aim at instilling in officers the outlook that they can perform their duties without having to shoot people or to use force without provocation.
Training will aim for quality, as opposed to the large intakes of previous years. This means one instructor will serve 11 trainees, instead of 36.
Screening applicants has begun. Lombard said selection will aim to reflect the country’s demographics, and 50% of those chosen will be women.
The strict requirements will eliminate most of the aspiring police officers: minimum qualifications include matric plus a driver’s licence. There will also be a thorough check of applicants’ criminal records, which was not previously done.
The new trainees will be taught when to make an arrest, to what extent to use force and to read suspects their rights before arresting them. The emphasis will shift from physical training to communication skills and knowledge of the country’s new laws. “We are going to be community- oriented and [concentrate on] problem- solving,” Lombard said.
The curriculum took more than two years to complete and received input from the Human Rights Commission and non-governmental organisations. Guidance was also obtained from 20 countries.
The Human Rights Commission’s head of education, Greg Moran, said the organisation helped the police draft and edit the teaching manual on human rights. The subject is also being taught to officers currently in the force as an incentive for promotion.
“The issue of human rights in the police is of huge concern to us. That is why the police are our number one priority,” said Moran.
The new curriculum will be implemented in November for the first batch of 450 recruits, spread out in three colleges.
The college in Pretoria will have the highest intake of 250, although its capacity is 2 000. But its head, Indira Chetty, said this does not mean the college is under-used because advanced courses are offered to long-serving officers.
The English-only decision has irked the police unions. The Police and Prison Civil Rights Union (Popcru) believes the use of English automatically disqualifies many who might be interested in joining the police.
But Lombard said it would be impractical to use all languages, although trainees will be allowed to ask for clarifications in their mother tongues whenever possible.
The South African Police Union’s Peter-Don Brandt said it regards using English only as the opinion of police management, and not as a final decision – because it has not been discussed with stakeholders.