Hard to tell if police brutality rising - expert

Shootings in past few months

Some of the cases of police brutality are not acceptable, a criminal expert said yesterday.

Christian Bezuidenhout, a criminal expert from the University of Pretoria, said police brutality was high between 2010 and 2012 but has decreased over the years.

He said it was difficult to determine whether cases of police brutality were increasing in the past few months.

“I agree some cases are not acceptable and need to be investigated and dealt with harshly. In the same vein, did the public become more deviant against rules, especially during lockdown?” Bezuidenhout said.

Tshepiso Adoon’s death as a result of police action comes just two weeks after Nateniel Julies, 16, was killed allegedly by police in Eldorado Park.

Officers Scorpion Simon Ndyalvane, 46, Caylene Whiteboy, 23, and Forster Netshiongolo, 37, were arrested. They are expected to appear in the Protea magistrate’s court again today.

Ndyalvane and Whiteboy are facing charges of murder, defeating the ends of justice, discharging a firearm in a public space and being in possession of prohibited ammunition.

Netshiongolo is facing charges of defeating the ends of justice, being an accessory after the fact to Julies’s murder and possession of prohibited ammunition.

In April, Ntando Sigasa from Mndeni, Soweto, died after he was allegedly assaulted by police officers. No arrests have been made.

In March, Sibusiso Amos of Vosloorus was shot and killed allegedly by an Ekurhuleni metro police officer and a private security official during lockdown patrols in the area.