Pretoria - Government is set to implement a tactical plan to prevent police killings.
The National Tactical Response Plan is to be immediately implemented and will conduct on-site investigations assessing the circumstances of all officers who have been killed, Police Minister Nathi Nhleko announced on Thursday.
“Station and relief commanders will ensure directives and standing orders regarding safety are implemented.
“Inspections will take place to ensure officers have the right safety gear and they will be briefed on all possible dangerous suspects and potential situations when reporting for duty,” the Minister told the National Assembly during a debate on police killings.
Over and above that, Minister Nhleko said there will be assessments of the environment to identify root causes as well as potential threats and trends in order to enhance preventative measures and access to police premises in order to address safety and security vulnerabilities.
These assessments will further assist the police to determine the modus operandi of perpetrators, threats to members and trends of criminal activity.
“We have embarked on the profiling of suspects and identifying high risk areas such as gang infested areas, descriptions of dangerous suspects and suspicious vehicles and enhance awareness amongst police members to strengthen operational and psychological readiness on a regular basis.”
This plan comes as 60 police officers have been killed so far this year alone. According to the Police Minister, more than two thirds of the killings (71%) happened when police were responding to the needs of the public.
About 45.7% were killed during complaints like robbery, 11.4% while effecting arrest, 5.7% searches of persons or vehicles and 14% what we call random killings.
“The 60 policemen killed so far this year would have been responsible for the safety of approximately 21 480 people.”
The slain members were “not easily replaceable” given the time it took to train a policeman, he said.
Minister Nhleko also reiterated that police killings are an attack on the state.
“The continued killing of members of the police service is an attempt to undermine the legitimate authority of the state.”
The latest police killing incident was on Wednesday, where two police officers were killed in Dobsonville, Soweto. One officer died on the scene and another in hospital later after suspects fired at them following a car chase.
The investigators were shot and killed by a group of eight men.
Two of the eight suspects, believed to have been involved in the shooting, were shot and killed by police on the N3 near Heidelberg on Gauteng's East Rand, on Thursday.
The manhunt for the others is ongoing.
Last weekend, President Jacob Zuma called for an urgent plan to combat the killing of police officers. - SAnews.gov.za
