THE detective branches at all three police stations in Kempton Park are battling with resources, putting severe strain on officers.
Mike Waters, DA MP and Lethabong constituency head, submitted questions in this regard to Parliament. The answers that came back painted a bleak picture of the police forces in the city.
Kempton
According to the reply for Kempton Park Police Station, the detective unit is under-resourced by 45%. There is supposed to be two detectives per vehicle. While there are 67 detectives, they only have 25 cars between them. This means currently there are nearly three detectives to one vehicle, Waters said.
“In addition, detectives carry 200 cases on average or 13 400 cases for the entire precinct. What is more shocking is that in another parliamentary reply, the Minister stated ‘The recommended average case load per investigating officer is between 40 and 45 case dockets’.
“This means our detectives are carrying four times the number of caseloads they should be carrying, which not only places immense pressure on them but affects the quality of investigation a detective can offer. In order to ensure all detectives are carrying the maximum number of cases, an additional 231 detectives are needed – this is a staggering shortfall of 78%,” said Waters.
Only 42 out of the 67 detectives at Kempton have attended and passed the detective course, meaning that 25 (37%) detectives have not attended the course.
This does not mean these 25 detectives are not good at their jobs but it does highlight the fact that the police do not take the training of our detectives seriously, he added.
“If the public is to regain trust in the police, the top brass must ensure the men and women on the ground are not only trained properly in order to ensure a standardised quality of investigation but that our detectives are resourced adequately, with vehicles and other necessities.”
Norkem Park
The Norkem Park SAPS detective unit is also under-resourced by 45%. There is supposed to be two detectives per vehicle and while there are 34 detectives and they have 15 cars between them, two are currently at the mechanical workshop.
The one vehicle has been there since March 22 (121 days) and the other since April 24 (58 days). This means currently there are nearly three detectives to one vehicle, according to Waters.
In addition, detectives are carrying 81 cases on average or 2 454 cases for the entire precinct.
“If the maximum case load of 45 cases per detective was applied, Norkem Park Police Station would need an additional 28 detectives, which is a shortfall of 45%.
“Only 19 out of the 34 detectives have attended and passed the detective course.”
Sebenza
The Sebenza SAPS detective unit is under-resourced by 33%. The 22 detectives have only eight cars between them, of which one has been at the mechanical workshop since May 5, 2014.
In addition, detectives are carrying 63 cases on average or 1 386 cases for the entire precinct.
“This means our detectives are carrying more than the maximum and if all detectives were only given the maximum of 45 cases, they would need an additional nine detectives. This means the detectives are 33% under-resourced,” Waters said.
Only 15 out of the 22 detectives have attended and passed the detective course, which means seven (32%) have not attended the course.
