The police service is so committed to the protection of human rights it is giving new officers human rights training.Deputy National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola said this on Thursday when he spoke at the South African Human Rights Commission's (SAHRC) dialogue on human rights and policing in Johannesburg.SAPS cuts training at 'quality's expense'Masemola was speaking on behalf of Acting National Police Commissioner Khomotso Phahlane.DA: ‘Increasing evidence of excessive force by SAPS at Rhodes'He said the event was a good platform for the police to tell their own stories regarding their daily duties and the protection of human rights‚ raising concerns about the high number of police officers that are killed on duty."The number of police killings since 1995 has escalated astronomically‚" he said.In spite of this the South African Police Services (SAPS) remains committed to upholding human rights and are now giving new recruits to the force basic training in human rights issues‚ Masemola said.“In addition a human rights policing programme has also been conducted in all nine provinces as part of in-service training‚” he said.This programme is constantly updated by the police's Legal and Policy Division according to new legal developments‚ he said.Masemola also said that it is important that all officers respect the constitutional rights of suspects to secure convictions.“The SAPS is sensitive to this‚ not only because of its legal obligation‚ but in view of the fact that long hours of work is nullified when a suspect is set free by the court [due to a human rights violation]‚” he said.SAHRC commissioner Danny Titus said that the rights of police officers and citizens must be balanced.Titus said that in the SAHRC's engagements with the SAPS‚ officers said they feel their challenges are not understood by the human rights advocacy groups.“There is a resistance from police officers who say you don't understand me‚” he said...