1,172 police members convicted for crimes in past five years

Police Minister Bheki Cele has revealed that 1,172 police members were convicted for various crimes in the past five years.

Cele made the revelation in a reply to a parliamentary question earlier this week.

This has led the parliamentary portfolio committee on police saying that “effective consequence management and constant vetting should form the basis of any measures to deal with members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) who act in contravention of the laws of the country”.

The chairperson of the committee Francois Beukman said in a statement on Friday that the committee supports a zero-tolerance policy with regard to criminal behaviour and conduct by SAPS members.

“Members who are found guilty of criminal conduct should exit the service on an immediate basis. The public requires professional police members who act with integrity and within the law,” Beukman said.

The committee, Beukman added, strongly believes that through recruitment methodology, as well as career incident and consequent management, the police management should be able to weed out individuals with criminal tendencies.

“The committee also believes that the current situation, whereby corrupt and criminal members emerge within the police service, can be turned around by implementing in full the recommendations of the National Development Plan with regard to the code of conduct of SAPS and the National Police Board,” the committee chair said.

The board will set standards for entrance of recruits and criteria for promotion.

Beukman said the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, together with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, should step up their efforts to investigate criminal conduct of SAPS members who acted outside the law.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.