We known for a long time that the police force has been infiltrated by crooks and criminals.
What we do not know is how many police officers are criminals. We thought, like any profession, you would find some, probably a minority who are not fit to wear the uniform.
But Police Minister Bheki Cele has surprised us. In reply to a question in Parliament, he said 5489 police officers had been charged with more than 80 crimes.
While 5489 is a large number, the number of crimes (80) seems inappropriate. If we divide 5489 by 80 we get 68. Could 68 police officers be involved in each of the crimes? It doesn’t make sense.
The number of crimes by officers should have been much higher. But let’s not quibble about the numbers, what is important is that a large number of police officers are not only involved in crime but also collude with criminals gangs.
But we must not forget that there are many dedicated men and women in blue who often risk their lives in their line of duty. Cele must shoulder the blame for the police force becoming a criminal haven.
Rather than posing like a socialite for the cameras, he should attend to matters plaguing the police force.
* Thyagaraj Markandan, Kloof.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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