Abstract
On 20 May 2003, a national summit on police killings was held at the SAPS academy in Pretoria – the culmination of a series of provincial meetings on the same topic. Although the national meeting did not achieve its objective – the collaborative drafting of a national action plan – the provincial meetings produced a number of excellent recommendations that deserve to be taken seriously. This article discusses the reasons for the high number of police killings in South Africa and makes suggestions for dealing with the problem.
Highlights
While being a cop is a dangerous profession anywhere in the world, the number of police killed annually varies substantially between countries
On 20 May 2003, a national summit on police killings was held at the SAPS academy in Pretoria – the culmination of a series of provincial meetings on the same topic
A violent society With a murder rate of 48 per 100,000 in 2001/2, the average South African citizen is nearly five times more likely to be killed than the average American police member
Summary
While being a cop is a dangerous profession anywhere in the world, the number of police killed annually varies substantially between countries. This article discusses the reasons for the high number of police killings in South Africa and makes suggestions for dealing with the problem. An average of 79 police were killed in the line of duty each year between 1979 and 1998 in the United States.
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