SOME 681 people had died while in police custody in the 1999/2000 financial year, Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete said on Thursday. The figure was down on the 756 deaths reported in the previous year. Meanwhile the number of cases against police reported to the watchdog Independent Complaints Directorate rose to 4380 in 1999/2000 from 2874. “The increase … does not necessarily signal an increase in lawlessness on the part of some members of the SAPS, but may be attributed to the increase in the general awareness of the existence of the ICD and the services which it is able to provide,” Tshwete told Parliament.