EDITOR – It is not unusual that police officers would get defensive, protective and outraged when issues such as this are pointed out. Much of what I wrote I personally witnessed.
I also said there are some very good police officers out there, but unfortunately it is the deeds of the bad ones that get highlighted. I have had numerous officers contact me thanking me for highlighting these issues.
With regard to the Pinetown incident, the details I laid out in my letter were as I received them from members of Pinetown SAPS, those facts may have changed over time but those are the facts I received the week of the incident, and I specifically did not mention the officer’s name because I did not think it was necessary.
In answer to ‘Disturbed Police Officer’ – I did raise it with the station commander on more than one occasion and nothing has been done to remedy the situation, the same thing continues to happen. I also raised it all the way up the chain of command to parliament. I do think the Highway Mail readers need to be reminded and educated by me and anyone else with experience in the issue. There is no personal agenda and no defaming of anyone, because I specifically did not include the officer’s name. The reason it took almost a year was for no other reason other than the spate of police officers being killed lately.
As far as the comment from W/O David Paul Bramley of the Durban Flying Squad, ‘Crouch’s comments show that he feels it is acceptable for policemen and women to be killed, like it is a part of the job’ – explain to me how by highlighting shortcomings and the comments I made in any way imply that I think it is okay for police officers to be killed in the line of duty? Here again I am being accused of disrespecting and besmirching the name of the officer when I did not even mention the name of the officer -W/O David Paul Bramley mentioned it.
The bottom line is that someone was able to shoot and kill an SAPS officer in a police station; it does not matter who it was, who pulled the trigger or where the gun came from. The killing of a police officer should never happen, especially in a police station.
I draw on my experience from being trained by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, working alongside the best in the business, the FBI, and many years of experience.
It is my job as a councillor to highlight issues that concern the public and perform oversight on government departments, and after exhausting the chain of command and with nowhere further to go I then highlight it in the media. SAPS is a real concern to the public right now, and like the crime stats, it appears to be going from bad to worse. There is a problem when the members see everything as a criticism of them, and you have to wonder why that is.
Rick Crouch
Ward Councillor
