`justice’
Tangeni Amupadhi
Police officers are apparently turning to vigilantism because of growing disillusionment with the criminal justice system, says a research commissioned by the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD).
In an incident earlier this year, Eastern Cape policemen shot dead four “fleeing robbers” in Umtata after they allegedly held up a Pep Stores branch and made off with R800.
However, video footage of the dead suspects, which shows them lying on the pavement, clearly indicates they were shot from the front. “Medical evidence seems to support that version,” says Riaz Saloojee, who heads the ICD office in the Western Cape.
According to Saloojee, preliminary results of an ICD probe into the incident point to misconduct on the part of the police.
Along with the research, the ICD – the official police watchdog – last week released figures showing an increase in the number of people dying in custody or during arrest.
They found that people reported to have committed suicide may have been killed by police, or police had left them to die. In some cases “police might have handed the person to a crowd of people for them to `dispense justice’ after having already arrested the person.
“The police, integrally concerned with the enforcement of the law, while also being part of the criminal justice system, may also be prone to disillusionment.”
Police National Commissioner George Fivaz, admits that in some cases his officers “over-react”, mainly due to the violent enviroment in which they work.