EMPD Officers undergo crowd management training

The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD), based in Bedfordview, recently launched a programme that will have EMPD officers undergo training in crowd management.

The project, which has trained 200 officers so far, is aimed at ensuring all law enforcement officers are skilled in terms of effective crowd management.

The training is aimed at combating challenging situations involving people in protests who are not acting within the law or not observing the conditions as set out in their application in terms of the Gatherings Act.

“The greatest challenge is for law enforcers to respond to serious provocation, intimidation, sometimes with public violence and with elements of criminality,” said Police Minister, Nathi Mthethwa.

“Officers have to tackle those manifestations within the spirit and context of a community-oriented policing model and the Bill of Rights, which requires a realistic balance between acknowledging the rights of citizens to demonstrate versus the polices’ need to ensure peace and stability,” said Minister Mthethwa.

46 EMPD officers formed part of the group that completed training on April 17. The Minister of Police and the Commissioner of Police emphasised the importance of having each and every officer trained in crowd management.

The modules include learning how the Constitution and the Bill of Rights impact on the police’s approach to crowd management. The training is aligned with the training SAPS officers working at Public Order Policing units receive.

The programme includes training on the legal instruments affecting crowd management, with particular emphasis on the Regulation of Gatherings Act, the Dangerous Weapons Act and use of force prescripts, the importance of and approaches to negotiation tactics, and strategy and tactics to be used in crowd management. @BedfordEdenvale