Police shootouts: Experts divided over deaths

While many condemn the police killing nine alleged robbers and rapists in a shootout in Mariannhill, KwaZulu-Natal, they shouldn’t come under fire, an expert said.

Some criminals had no respect for life or the law and used maximum force, independent crime analyst Chris De Kock said.

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“They are armed with military style [automatic] weapons and in many cases pistols. But whatever the calibre of firearms, they will shoot first if they have a chance.”

The police are under pressure, he said. “They can never shoot first. They have to wait until somebody fire shots at them.

‘Police handling it well’

“But the police are handling it well. It’s unfortunate we are in this point in our history because it’s bad if the police come under fire,” he said.

The police watchdog, Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), recorded 410 incidents of death by police action in 2021-22.

Its annual report showed 393 similar deaths recorded last year. Ipid spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said some investigations were done by a team of seniors, who worked together in complex cases.

They conduct their own investigations and only after gathering all evidence could they determine if the police acted within the parameters of the law, he said.

“We have observed a number of incidents where suspected criminals will allegedly be killed in a shoot-out with the police, but we have to investigate all cases.”

Shuping said Ipid was not involved in the operations of the police. “We only get involved if they have acted and their actions fall within the mandate of Ipid.

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Such actions could be death in police custody, discharge of firearm or any case within our mandate.”

Gareth Newham, head of justice and violence prevention at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), said there’s no real research that clearly demonstrated a link between police shootings and improved public trust.

What affected people’s trust in the police was how police behaved towards ordinary people daily, he said.

“Some underlying systematic issues within the law enforcement is the pressure on police because every year crime rates go up. The most reliable crime statistics are murders.

“In the Mariannhill case, the police only recovered three firearms, but killed nine people. Surely they would have known those people were outgunned with only three firearms?” Newman said.

‘Suspects were plotting a hit’

Police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda said the suspects were wanted for several violent crimes and police believed they were plotting to execute a hit on someone.

“The suspects had been on the police’s radar for some time and were sought after they allegedly gang-raped a girl and made her mother watch during a house robbery,” he said.

De Kock stated police had to protect themselves and said some gangs especially in KZN used violence in the community.

“Remember police won’t go into a situation like this without intelligence showing the gang was inside the house without planning. So they try their level best to get them out without any force,” Netshiunda said.

“Even if you planned, when you have to defend yourself, you have to defend yourself.”

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However, Newham said a lot of questions needed to be asked on this case. “Is there a problem with the police intelligence, or operational planning?” he asked.

“Police are not trained to kill people. They’re trained to arrest and bring them to court. So when they’re killing large numbers of people, it suggests there are problems with either their intelligence, or their operational planning,” he said.

“It sends out a clear message to criminal networks, when you see the police, you shoot. You don’t put your hands up and don’t let them arrest you because they’re going to kill you.”