While the community must help the police combat crime, such a partnership is on shaky ground when the community, for many reasons, does not trust the police. Many police officers, for example, accept bribes from criminals - effectively aiding crime rather than clamping down on it. The police become criminals and, as a result, many communities choose to take the law into their own hands .While the apartheid police inflicted a great deal of brutality on the black populace, they were well-trained and well-equipped.It is questionable if the current police force is able to do its job.Former Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa proposed a 10-point programme of action to improve the SAPS.But what progress has been made?One of the priorities of the programme was clamping down on the number of police officers killed.But the number of police officers killed this year is 53.Is the requisite training being provided? Are there sufficient bulletproof vests?What about psychological counselling and better salaries for policemen?More crucially, something needs to be done to rid the police force of corruption within its ranks.Only then will the community trust the police again. Only then will community members be more prepared to report the criminals living in their back yards. ..