Criminal prosecution: What you need to know

What happens once a criminal is arrested? Is he just locked up, never to be seen again? Not so says the head of investigations at one of the biggest security companies in the country, Nico Potgieter.

He said police constantly wage a seemingly impossible war against crime. Potgieter who is with Enforce Security and a Durban North resident said that some members of the public lived under the impression that once a successful arrest is made, the brave men in blue can drive off into the sunset to celebrate their victory. However, the real battle begins after the arrest, he said.

In order to secure a conviction police need to gather three forms of evidence against a suspect – if there is CCTV footage it must be clear and the suspect must be easily identifiable. The exhibits or stolen property as well as fingerprints or trace evidence, such as DNA collected at the scene must be available.

“People don’t realise that the investigators needs to link the evidence to the suspects. But what if the suspect was wearing gloves, or a balaclava? What if the suspect quickly dumped or sold the stolen goods? How would you link the suspect to the crime?” he said.

“Sometimes the accused makes an admission of guilt or confessed to the crime, but more often than not the suspect later claims that they were threatened, coerced or that they were assaulted by police and then the confession is thrown out of court. This has become the norm,” he said.

Potgieter emphasised that is was therefore critical for the public, particularly victims of crime, to work with police and security companies.

“Eye witnesses and statements from the victims are then our last port of call. Via identification parades we can then link the suspects to the crime. Intimidation or fear often hinders these efforts, as victims are too scared to come forward and once again the court has no choice but to release the suspect on bail,” he said.

“In my 20 years of experience I can honestly say that most criminals are repeat offenders. They are arrested and released on bail the one day and the next they are back on the streets committing the same crime,” he said.

What’s more, Potgieter says police often know who the suspects are but due to a lack of evidence are unable to arrest let alone prosecute the known offender.

“If we want to see a reduction of crime victims must report crimes and come forward to identify the suspects,” he said.