A recent report initiated by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa has shown that 1448 police officers in Gauteng have criminal records.
According to the Portfolio Committee on SAPS Chairperson Anenlize van Wyk, the figures projected in the report are a contributing factor to why the public does not trust the police.
“It is factors like these criminal records that lead to the distrust of police officials by the public.
“As the committee, we therefore call on the SAPS management to act speedily and decisively against those found to have criminal records.
“It is unjustifiable that there are some SAPS officials with a criminal record.
“This is needed in order restore the public image of the police,” says van Wyk.
She adds that one of the requirements for prospective police officers is that they should have no criminal records.
“In order to clean up the image of the police, the committee will call for implementation strategies on how to best deal with this,” says van Wyk.
According to Randfontein SAPS spokesperson Captain Appel Ernst, all Randfontein officers went through the procedure of background checking.
“I am in no possision to disclose whether or not some officers were found to have criminal records.
“What I can say at this point is that we all underwent the necessary procedure,” says Ernst.
