David Bruce This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
The statistics on killings of police reported in the latest SAPS annual report might help in putting to rest some of the anxieties, expressed over the last few years, that changes in the legislation on the use of lethal force would expose police to greater danger.
The latest annual report indicates that 94 police were killed during the April 2004-March 2005 year, the lowest number recorded in South Africa since the early 1990s.
From 1998 onwards the SAPS and others were involved in a protracted controversy over an amendment to section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act, the law on the use of lethal force for purposes of arrest.
The SAPS argued that the amendment's lack of clarity would result in uncertainty on the part of the police as to when they would be justified in using lethal force, potentially putting them at greater danger.
Underpinning the controversy may also have been a concern that restrictions on the use of lethal force would unreasonably hamper the police in fighting crime.
But the old section 49, with its permissive provisions on the use of lethal force, was clearly out of line with the Constitution's emphasis on the sanctity of human life.
As a result of police opposition to the amendment its implementation was delayed until July 2003 almost five years after the amendment was passed by parliament.
Consistent with research in the US indicating that restrictions on the use of lethal force do not necessarily have a negative impact on police safety, and may even be associated with reductions in fatal violence against police officers, killings of police have declined since 2003.
Though these killings have declined subsequent to the implementation of the amendment, this may not be the primary reason for this reduction. In 2001 for instance the SAPS introduced a comprehensive police safety strategy. This included improved provision of bullet proof vests, emphasis on the use of correct tactical procedures in vehicle stops and other risk situations, better training and a general emphasis on greater police alertness and discipline in relation to on-duty and off-duty conduct.
The safety strategy may have contributed to the declining number of killings but it should also be observed that this decrease coincides with an overall reduction in the number of murders in South Africa. In fact declines in the number of killings of police have far outstripped the decline in the number of murders with the latter having decreased by 30% since their highest levels in 1996, while killings of police have declined by 64% since reaching a peak of 280 in 1993.
This hopefully suggests that South African society is becoming more humane, though this is not to imply that both of these categories of killings are not high by the standards of many countries, or that other indicators of levels of violence, such as statistics on rape and robbery, should be regarded as anything other than intolerably high.
The possibility that South Africa is incrementally becoming a less brutal society is also supported by statistics on a third category of lethal violence, that of killings by police. These too have declined significantly in most provinces since the Independent Complaints Directorate started reporting on these deaths in 1997.
While there are positive trends in levels of fatal violence, we have not necessarily changed that much in acknowledging the impact of this violence on other South Africans.
One manifestation of this may a generalised indifference in relation to the killings of police. Considering the high levels of violence which we are exposed to it is not surprising that many of us respond to this with disinterest. The fact that all killings of police are not necessarily in the line of duty, or related to their responsibilities as police, also confuses the picture. The death of a police protagonist in a bar room brawl should not be honoured in the same way that other police deaths might be.
These responses may also be explained by our apartheid past where police were viewed as sell-outs and enemies of the community. A lot has changed since those days, and community orientated policing, and the use of community police and sector forums have gone some way towards breaking down the barriers between police and communities.
But while our views of the police may be less hostile, the accountability orientation of our society still results in them being subjected to a scrutiny that is largely critical, as a result of which we perhaps fail to properly honour the great sacrifice which some of them make.
David Bruce is a Senior Researcher in the Criminal Justice Programme at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
In Business Day, 13 October 2005.
© Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
CSVR is a multi-disciplinary institute that seeks to understand and prevent violence, heal its effects and build sustainable peace at the community, national and regional levels.
