Another policeman killed – 53 officers killed so far this year

01 August 2015 - 15:33 By RDM News Wire

Another police member has been killed‚ bringing to 53 the number of police officers killed in the country so far this year – four in the last week alone‚ police said. Police spokesman Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said a 34-year-old constable had been shot dead by a group of gunmen in Jeppestown in Johannesburg on Friday morning. Five suspects have been arrested in connection with the killing.Brig Naidoo said the South African Police Service (SAPS) management was “appalled by the unabated callous murder of our police officers”. The number of police members killed so far this year is six more that for the same period last year.“While the SAPS acknowledges the fact that policing is‚ by its very nature‚ a high risk occupation and that our members are exposed to dangerous situations and criminals‚ joining the police service should not be equal to signing a death warrant. The police are here to serve and protect and these attacks are as a direct result of our zero tolerance approach to criminality. We will not relent and we will ensure that our colleagues’ deaths are not in vain by bringing those responsible to book‚” Brig Naidoo said.“Our men and women in blue are constantly reminded‚ through various means of communication‚ of the safety precautions that they learned during training and which they must continuously employ. They are also advised to treat every situation as a life-threatening one‚ but in many instances criminals lay in ambush for our members and this is most difficult to prevent‚” he added.National police commissioner General Riah Phiyega commented: “While the SAPS management is doing all that it can for the safety and wellbeing of its members‚ personal safety is mostly controlled by the individuals and secondly by working closely and well with colleagues."The use of police radios‚ giving each other backup‚ being aware of one’s surroundings‚ regularly checking that all the tools issued are in good working order and are used when circumstance dictate‚ in addition to the several other safety measures that are put in place‚ will go a long way in saving lives‚” she added.Brig Naidoo said that for its part‚ the SAPS was prioritising investigations into the killings of police officers to ensure that sentences handed down served as deterrents and that police were continuously assessing the circumstances under which members were being killed in order to sensitise employees into taking preventative measures.“The National Commissioner has praised our members for the speedy arrest of the suspect in the killing of our member in Themba yesterday (Thursday) as well as for the arrest of the 5 suspects for the killing of the constable this morning (Friday). Thus far‚ since 1 April 2015 a further 14 suspects have been arrested for the murder of police officers.“The SAPS believes that a louder condemnation of this kind of criminality by society‚ the media and opinion leaders‚ will send out a strong message and will let police officers know that the population at large is fully behind them‚” Brig Naidoo added...

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