Police are there to protect and serve the public, in theory.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure most of the police in our country do their jobs with pride and are humbled that they can save the lives of the people in the country. But there are a few who abuse their power and the actions of these few have changed the public’s perception of the police.
As a young person in South Africa, I am one of many who do not always trust the police. When I am driving alone, especially at night, and I see those dreaded blue lights flashing, my heart sinks and I start to sweat. Even if I have not been out and have no alcohol in my system, I fear being pulled over by police.
And yes, I may be overreacting and paranoid and the police that are pulling me over may be very friendly and just there to do their jobs, but when I see those blue lights, I do not know if these are decent police or those rouge police you always hear stories about.
In March a survey was done by consumer insights company Pondering Panda where they asked people between the ages of 15 and 34 if they are afraid of the police.
The survey found that 53% of South Africa’s youth do not trust the police, 23% were afraid of the police, and 22% believed the police could be trusted.
I think that the Marikana incident and the incident in Daveyton where the policemen dragged a man behind their car may have spiked this distrust.
The survey also showed that women are more afraid of the police than men.
I recently read a few stories dating back to 2011 and 2012 on News24 about policemen being accused of raping women. There was also the recent incident of two police officers beating a woman at a petrol station.
How can the public trust the police if every time they see a policeman they fear for their life?
The sad reality is that all the good that the police actually do gets drowned out by the bad things done by the few bad apples.
People would rather criticise than praise and that is also a big problem in our society.
As young people in 2013,with all the recent police brutality happening, we are subconsciously trained to be cautious of the police.
If I were in danger, I would rather phone a security company patrolling my area than the police station, because I feel more comfortable with them protecting me than the police. I think many people would do the same.
Although the security companies are a great commodity, not everyone can afford to belong to one, and therefore have to rely on the police in times of trouble.
People need to report police brutality, in any form, and the police system needs to take responsibility and weed out those few rough policemen who are bringing down the name of the good and loyal men and women in the service.
