Cops held for threatening to shoot crying toddler

The metro police officers who allegedly threatened to shoot a three-year-old girl were arrested on Tuesday, Justice Project SA (JPSA) and Crimeline said in a joint statement.

"The crimes that these officers are alleged to have committed are very serious indeed and should be treated as such," they said.

The Star reported on Tuesday that one of the officers unclipped his gun, raised his voice and told the child: "If you don't keep quiet, I'll shoot you."

She had started to cry when the officer asked her mother for a bribe, after the woman told him she did not have a driving licence.

"He approached me and asked for my licence. I was honest with him and I told him that I do not have one," the woman told the newspaper.

"He then asked what plan we could hatch for cooldrink money."

According to the report, when the woman said she did not have money, the officer took about R80 and R90 in change out of the ashtray in the car.

The woman then drove off and told her parents about the incident and together with her father, they returned to the scene.

When the officers noticed the woman's car, they initially drove off.

However, the woman and her father followed the officers and they eventually got out of the car.

Asked about the incident, the officer admitted to threatening the child and said he did so to keep her quiet.

The organisations urged motorists to refrain from paying bribes to police officers and to report any officer who tried to solicit a bribe from them.

"The severest sentences should be handed down by the courts when law enforcement officers are convicted of extortion and/or corruption."

"The same should apply to motorists who think that it is okay to summarily bribe traffic officials."

JPSA chairman Howard Dembovsky said "urgent interventions" were required to clamp down on corrupt metro police officers.

"We are very concerned. We need decisive action by municipalities and law enforcement agencies."

Crime Line head Yusuf Abramjee applauded the police for their swift action on arresting the officers.

"We need to get the rotten metro cops behind bars," he said.

"We appeal to the public to blow the whistle on these crooked cops."