A panel of experts has been appointed to review public order policing in the aftermath of the killing by the police of 34 miners in Marikana in 2012. The Marikana Commission found that the police's "defective" plan to break up the miners' strike was responsible for the deaths.The panel, the forming of which was recommended by the commission, will report to Police Minister Nathi Nhleko.It will comprise foreign and South African public order policing and legal experts.It is intended to suggest alternative public order policing methods, to assess international best practise, and to identify non-lethal equipment for public order policing.Nhleko said yesterday that the panel's findings would be submitted to the cabinet and then, if approved, implemented by him through the national police commissioner.The police have often been accused of dysfunctional detective and intelligence work, both of which are critical in the fight against crime.Nhleko said "deficiencies" in the fundamental disciplines of policing, such as crime prevention, crime investigation and crime intelligence, had been "neglected for a long time".He said a detective recovery plan would be implemented to improve and monitor investigations. It would include improving the management of dockets.The plan will involve docket analysis and the assigning of experienced detectives to complex cases.Acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane recently revealed preliminary findings of a nearly 1.7% increase in serious crimes reports in December in four provinces - Limpopo, North West, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal - compared to a year earlier.He said between October and January, 9406 people were arrested for crimes including illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, armed robbery and rape...