Farlam report points way ahead for police in a democracy

Amid all the political heat generated by the Farlam Commission report, key recommendations on the demilitarisation of the SAPS and calls for an overhaul of its crowd-control protocols are generating precious little public debate. This is a great pity because, without a dramatic shake-up of public-order policing, the terrible events of August 16 2012 could be repeated in any one of the myriad service protests that have become commonplace.