OURVIEW POINT SERIOUS PROBLEM IN THE SA PS

The frequency of news reports involving police officers charged with the murder or assault of their partners calls for critical intervention by the South African Police Service.

In the latest incident, reported in yesterday’s Witness, a Durban Metro police officer killed his wife, shot his son, who survived, before turning the gun on himself.

This story runs directly above the page three update on another murder-accused Durban Metro police officer, Sizwe Ngema, who appeared briefly in court yesterday for killing his girlfriend, who was stabbed to death last month.

The prevalence of these cases points to a serious problem within the SAPS. KZN violence monitor Mary de Haas has attributed this to a lack of stringent selection processes and proper psychological assessments of new recruits.

She said the appointment of recruits who are not psychologically suited for this line of work is endangering women and children.

It’s impossible to get a handle on the GBV and femicide crisis when almost weekly a member of the SAPS tasked with policing this behaviour is being charged for the same crime.

As De Haas says, it starts at the grassroots of the SAPS when people first apply to enter the system. However, it cannot end there.

The nature of some of these crimes committed at the hands of SAPS members, as in this most recent case where the officer killed himself, suggests a psychological link to the crime.

Police officers are exposed to inexplicably harrowing scenes, engaging with the darkest side of humanity on a daily basis. This must certainly take its toll.

What resources are readily available to ensure officers receive adequate trauma debriefing? Over and above making mental health support available, it should be mandatory that officers undergo regular counselling debriefs to ensure they do not snap and end up harming the people they are supposed to protect.