Anthony Minnaar
>From 1994 to 1998, an average of 240 police members were murdered every year – almost one a day, a total of nearly 1 200 in four years. This is one of the highest figures in the world. Only China, and to a lesser extent Russia, approach this annual figure.
The United States over the past 10 years averaged about 70 members of law enforcement agencies murdered annually and Australia has averaged six a year. In New Zealand the figure is under five, Wales and England have had less than two a year since 1987, and Holland last year experienced only one murder of a police officer.
Of those South African police members murdered, 75% died from gunshot wounds, while about 10% were killed with their own service firearms.
A problem in assessing reasons for an attack on police is the fact that very few of the attackers/murderers are apprehended and convicted. The estimated rate of conviction in South Africa over the past few years has been only 3%. Only a third of the murders had a clearly ascribed modus operandi. The other two-thirds were listed as unknown.
In an analysis of the murder of police from 1994 to 1997, only one proven case of a police member being killed by other police in order to prevent him from spilling the beans in a case of corruption was found.
Among the most frequent contexts of for the murders were (in order of frequency):
l While being robbed of service pistol/R5 rifle;
l During an investigation/follow-up of information, or searching and apprehending a suspect;
l During an argument with a colleague/fellow member of the police;
l During a crime-prevention exercise/patrolling/attending to a complaint; and
l During a fight or argument with a member of the public.
That some police are involved in corrupt practices, extortion and bribery cannot be not denied, and that they might be killed by elements within organised crime to keep them quiet is also true, but at best this is a relatively small percentage of offenders within the police. Too large a percentage of those murdered occur in other situations.
Anthony Minnaar is a senior researcher at the Institute for Human Rights and Criminal Justice Studies at Technikon South Africa