200 officers trained in crowd management
Faced with invariably challenging situations when people involved in protests are not acting within the law, the SAPS has embarked on a project of ensuring that all law enforcement officers are skilled and capacitated in terms of effective crowd management.
A situation of only Public Order Policing members being trained in crowd management is the thing of the past and, henceforth, all SAPS and Metro Police officers will undergo crowd management training.
The SAPS Academy, in Pretoria, commenced with this intensive, three-week programme in early March. The first group completed the rigorous training on March 28.
The 144 EMPD officers who passed out, well-equipped with the know-how to protect those protesting peacefully and tackle those who are out to cause mayhem during protests, were among around 1 000 SAPS and Metro Police officers from around the country who completed the three-week course.
Training of platoon commanders is also part of the programme and 46 EMPD officers formed part of the group who completed their training on April 17.
The Minister of Police and the Commissioner of Police emphasised the importance of having each and every officer of the law trained in crowd management. The project is on-going.
“The greatest challenge is for law enforcers to respond to serious provocation, intimidation, sometimes with public violence and with elements of criminality,” says Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa.
“Officers have to tackle those manifestations within the spirit and context of a community-orientated policing model and the Bill of Rights, which requires a realistic balance between acknowledging the rights of citizens to demonstrate, versus the police’s need to ensure peace and stability.”
Modules include learning about how the Constitution and the Bill of Rights impact on the police’s approach to crowd management.
The training is aligned with that the 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.
