Not all cops comply with domestic violence registers

THE CIVILIAN secretariat for the police service has found that nearly two thirds of police stations have served protection orders within two months.

This comes after the SAPS oversight body visited 1 143 stations between July and December 2017 to monitor the implementation and compliance of the SAPS in terms of the Domestic Violence Act, and national instruction.

In a report tabled to Parliament last week, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga were named as the provinces with the majority of the stations that had served protection orders within two months.

But it said there were also some stations across all the provinces that had not served protection orders.

“One of the challenges with the serving of protection orders is poor communication and co-operation between the local police stations and the local courts,” the report read.

The secretariat for the police service also expressed its concern with police stations that kept records of domestic violence.

“Out of the 1 143 police stations, 880 had the registers kept by the station commanders, even though in some police stations the registers were not completed.

“In 23% of the police stations there were no registers in place, indicating that the station commanders were complying with the national instruction.

“It can be deduced that police stations without any recording system in place are highly unlikely to report and take action against members who have failed to comply with the Domestic

Violence Act or national instruction,” read the report.

It also found 216 instances of non-compliance during its visits to the police stations.

The Free State was the highest contributor with 106 cases from 26 police stations, followed by the Western Cape with 45 from police stations, and Limpopo with 43 from five police stations.

The Northern Cape did not have any records of members who failed to comply while the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West all had records of one police station each.

The report also revealed that there were 205 disciplinary proceedings against members for failing to comply.

“The majority of non-compliance is related to poor administration… The effects of administrative non-compliance can be very negative when a complainant lays a criminal case.

Improper recording can jeopardise the prospects of successful prosecution, and even lead to the victim’s life being in danger,” the secretariat said.

Figures have also indicated that up to 132 officers were perpetrators of domestic violence from 96 police stations, with a total of 72 disciplinary processes initiated against the implicated officers.

Corrective counselling and final written warnings were some of the sanctions imposed.

“There are also instances where no steps were taken, but the reasons for not taking steps could not be established,” the secretariat said.

The report said out of the 132 implicated officers, 58 criminal cases were opened.

Up to 19 cases were withdrawn in court, while 22 others were withdrawn by the complainants.