ISS Seminar, Pretoria: South African policing and the use of force: Challenges and Solutions
Date: 2011-05-25
Venue: , ISS Conference Room
, Block C, Brooklyn Court
, 361 Veale Street
, New Muckleneuk
, (Parking in Brooklyn Mall and ABSA court)
RSVP:
Millicent Mlaba
Tel: (012) 346 9500
Fax: (012) 460 0997/ 086 508 1660
E-mail: [email protected]
Presented by the Crime and Justice Programme,
Pretoria
Public attention has recently been drawn to incidents where police
officials are using excessive or unjustifiable force. CCTV footage of members
of the SAPS Tactical Response Teams assaulting restaurant patrons were soon
followed by the television images showing the killing of Andries Tatane, an
unarmed protestor during a demonstration in Ficksberg, by public order police
officials. This death triggered a national focus on the use of force by the
police with new incidents now being regularly reported on in the media.
There is evidence that the police have increasingly been using
deadly and excessive force in recent years. Statistics kept by the Independent
Complaints Directorate (ICD) reveal that between 2005/06 and 2008/09 the number
of people shot dead by the police more than doubled from 281 to 524. Between
2005/06 and 2009/10, complaints laid with the ICD of attempted murder had
increased by 50% and of serious assault by 100%.
This seminar will explore the organisational culture and dynamics
of the use of force in the South African Police Service with the purpose of
identifying the factors that contribute to abuses and how these can be better
managed so as to improve the safety of both civilians and police officials.
SPEAKERS:
- Mr. Moses Dlamini National
spokesperson for the Independent Complaints Directorate, the agency
responsible for investigating all deaths as a result of police action or
while in custody.
- Mr. David Bruce has
studied the management of the use of force in the SAPS and internationally
for over a decade while a Senior Researcher at the Centre for the Study of
Violence and Reconciliation.
- Mr. Andrew Faull
Researcher at Institute for Security Studies and author of “Behind the
Badge: The untold stories of South African Police Service members."
ISS Rules: Participants are free to use the information presented, but neither
the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any
other participants, may be revealed without his/her express permission.
