Police Brutality Thread

Rosaudio said:
I agree, it sounds like the police acted wrongly in this case, however the victim is always going to be over dramatic.. maybe she was resisting or even physically attacking the police officers?


Was she really beaten though? Maybe she was and in that case this is a horrific story.

However as far as I know she could have been resisting and the police had to use force knocking her to the ground and bam. faceplant.. maybe i'm just being too optimistic about the cops


____________________________

As I have said before though, all this could have been avoided if the cops here were equipped with tasers. They are expensive but I think they are desperately needed in this country.
Click to expand...

I can only go on what I've experienced, or the experiences of those around me. Based on that, it's highly believable that the cops did beat this woman. Some friends and family have had some really nasty experiences over the last couple of years. So, isolated or not, I feel the bad rep of the police is deserved. If only in the sense that the cops are doing very little to improve it.
 
Man in wheelchair after cop assault

Man in wheelchair after cop assault
2011-05-25 09:29

Pretoria - A man who says he was assaulted by police now has to use a wheelchair and fears he may have to live like this for the rest of his life.

Hendrik Grobler, 35, was still recovering from a back operation when a policeman stepped on his back at a fuel station in Gezina in Pretoria Moot on April 21. Beeld reported on the incident on May 2.

The policeman and his colleagues were caught on CCTV cameras as they assaulted Grobler and his friend, Theuns Potgieter, 33 - apparently because Potgieter was carrying his firearm but not his firearm licence.

Back brace

Grobler was wearing a back brace at the time of the assault, following a back operation ten weeks previously.

"I told the policeman twice that I couldn’t get down on the ground because I had had a back operation. I showed him the back brace,” Grobler said on Tuesday.

"The policeman pointed his firearm at me and said he would shoot me if I didn’t go down on the ground.

"He hit me, stepped on me and pushed me to the ground.

"Another policeman came and stepped on me. A third policeman came to me and turned me over. Then it was over. The pain started and has never stopped since then.”

Grobler lay there for 45 minutes before someone helped him up.

Unable to use right leg

Since the incident, his right leg has become weaker and he is unable to walk on it.

"The doctor said nerves and soft tissue were hurt. He said it was something that could take ten days to 20 years to recover.

"Since then I’ve been in the wheelchair. My right leg won’t move. It has no strength.

"If I try to put pressure on it, the pain is unbearable.”

Grobler has been unable to keep up his work as boilermaker.

His wife, Estie, 33, who is seven months pregnant, has to help him shower, after which he has to lie down in bed again because the pain is too much when he moves. Due to the wheelchair he is unable to move around in his house.

"I lost everything because of my back. Now I have lost the use of my legs as well, due to the police.”

Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) spokesperson Moses Dlamini said the ICD had not yet investigated the matter because they would only take over the investigation from the police on Wednesday.

- Beeld
Click to expand...
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Man-in-wheelchair-after-cop-assault-20110525

it should not be in the news because it is "normal" all over the world. :rolleyes:

useless ICD ..... told you!!!! :mad:
 
Well that's one way of telling half the story.

Emotion + 1 sided reporting + pregnant wife = sensationislistic journalism.
 
If the reports in the various papers describing what is shown in the CCTV footage are correct, then this is a definite incident of police brutality with excessive and unnecessary force been used.

It is now up to the ICD and courts to deal with this incident.

useless ICD ..... told you!!!!
Click to expand...
Why, they hadnt taken over the case yet?

I have a problem with making judgments based on news papers reports as there are plenty of incidents where they have reported incorrectly and blown things out of proportion.

An officer found guilty of a crime should be kicked out the force and face the appropriate legal punishment

An officer found guilty of a crime should be kicked out the force and face the appropriate legal punishment
 
the case was on April 21

nearly a month still not "investigating"? give me a break man.
Click to expand...

Okay, but what are the legal steps that have to be followed before the ICD takes over a case that may be the cause of the delay.

just wait and see the outcome and then you will understand what I am talking about
Click to expand...

Hopefully justice will triumph
 
Man shot dead during protest

Man shot dead during protest
2011-05-31 12:28

Johannesburg - An investigation is under way into the circumstances leading to the death of a 21-year-old man during a protest in Tlokweng, North West police said on Tuesday.

"The information we have is that the police were informed of a body that was found there. It is not confirmed that the man was shot by police," said Brigadier Thulani Ngubane.

"The situation there was very volatile so it is difficult to tell who shot... whether it was during the confrontation with police, we don't know until it is rightfully confirmed."

Ngubane said the Independent Complaints Directorate had been called in and would investigate.

A case of murder was being probed.

'Skirmish'

The North West department of public safety said on Tuesday that a 21-year-old man was shot in a "skirmish" with police during a protest in Tlokweng on Monday.

"He was part of a group that attacked police. A police vehicle was burned, shots were fired," said spokesperson Lesiba Moses Kgwele.

The man was shot during a protest in which residents of Tlokweng near Swartruggens blocked a road passing through the village with stones and burning objects.

Residents went on the rampage on Sunday after the funeral of Thabiso Moloi, whose decomposing body was found in the bush. They suspected that Moloi was killed for muti. Buses transporting people to work were stopped and schoolchildren were not allowed to go to school.

A car and house - belonging to the owner of the tavern at which Moloi was last seen - were torched and the tavern owner was intimidated.

Kgwele said the situation was "tense but calm" on Tuesday after a lengthy meeting between the community and public safety MEC Desbo Mohono on Monday night.

Talks

"MEC Mohono and senior police engaged community leaders and structures in a bid to mediate for restraint for villagers to give the investigations into the alleged ritual murder of Thabiso Moloi a chance," he said.

Mohono and North West Premier Thandi Modise were visiting the area and would address residents on Tuesday.

Last month, SABC television news showed footage of a group of policemen beating and shooting protester Andries Tatane at a protest in Ficksburg, in the Free State.

Eight policemen are on trial for allegedly assaulting and murdering Tatane.
- SAPA
Click to expand...
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Man-shot-dead-during-protest-20110531

protest???

shoot-to-kill (bang bang bang bang bang bang bang)

well done. :rolleyes:
 
Ignore Dreamking, he'll do everything in his power to demonise the police.
 
You usually won’t see many positive police stories in the news unless it is something major, most good police work goes unnoticed except for the people directly involved.

Police officers across South Africa respond to tens of thousands of complaints across SA every day, they range from disturbance of the peace to violent riots and the majorities are resolved with a minimum of fanfare and then the officer’s move on to the next one.

Yet as soon as a major negative event hits the news you get people spewing hate towards all members of the SAPS, yet many of those very same people won’t hesitate to call next time the neighbors start playing their music to loud.

As for Dreamking, there was a riot and a dead man was apparently found so it was automatically the police who did it?

What happens if he was one of those people shooting at the police and they returned fire to protect themselves, what then?
 
Just to offset the negative, I know this is old but it still proves my point

dEBIS EMERGENCY HERO OF THE YEAR AWARD 2008 Finalists (Police)

Off-duty reservist, Superintendent Marc Ishlove from the SAPS Fairland, Johannesburg rescued a woman from being killed while her car was highjacked.

Inspector Riaan le Roux and Inspector Gideon Daniel van der Merwe of the SAPS Dog Unit Worcester in the Western Cape saved a family of five from drowning after their car was swept off a bridge by an overflowing river

Constable Isaac Oupa Kubheka of the Jabulani SAPS in Soweto, Johannesburg prevented an armed robbery at a very busy ABSA bank during month-end in Lenasia.

Constable Masire Rathebe of the Groblershoop SAPS in the Northern Cape put his life in danger to save the lives of two children from drowning in a water hole.

Superintendent Samuel Dickson of the Vereeniging SAPS Crime Intelligence Gathering courageously and selflessly rescued two of his colleagues from a burning car wreck.

More recently

Brave and bold’ cops honoured
Four police officers were on Thursday awarded medals of bravery by national police commissioner General Bheki Cele, for risking their lives to save the lives of members of the public in extremely dangerous circumstances.

The Joburg police duo of Colonel Senate Williams and Warrant Officer Peter Odendaal were given South African Police Service Gold Cross Bravery Awards for saving the lives of six people, including a child, from possible death after the vehicle they were travelling in collided with a pillar and hung suspended off Swartkoppies Road.

They had been off duty when they spotted the panel van and when they approached it they noticed it was catching fire.

They managed to pull the occupants of the car out before it burst into flames.

During the ceremony at the SAPS Training Academy on Thursday Cele also awarded Constable Amarzon McLean and student Constable John Michael with the SAPS Silver Cross Bravery medals for entering a burning house in Elsies River, Cape Town, where they pulled a four-year-old girl out of the blaze that eventually burnt down her home.
Cele described these officers as members of his family, and said they were the caliber of police officers he wanted to surround himself with.

“The quality of being brave lies in being fearless, showing courage and being bold under very difficult or dangerous conditions,” he said.

Cele said police officers faced danger every day, and by facing danger daily they became familiar with it. “The familiarity allows them to become braver where they triumph over fear or pain... the recipients of medals have indeed fought, without hesitation, danger to our community,” said Cele.

He also paid tribute to those police officers who had died in the line of duty, including the 12 who have died since the beginning of this year. “There has been a slight decrease in the numbers of policemen dying on duty – there were 110 year before last and 86 last year. We hope this downward trend will continue,” he said.

He said the police would do everything in their power to bring cop killers to book.

Cele said investigations into the killing of Mamelodi Constable Enos Legodi were at an advanced stage, but they needed to be thorough. “We need to make sure that once they present a docket to the judge the killers are put away for a long time,” he said, adding that the public needed to understand that a quick arrest and sending people to prison was not always the solution. - Pretoria News
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/brave-and-bold-cops-honoured-1.1054010?showComments=true
Click to expand...

Others

Constable Constance Nyathi who rescued a one-year-old baby who had been abandoned by her mother.

Warrant Officer Ludick who, through dedication, arrested a suspect for twenty-one cases of theft and recovered 27 vehicles.

Constable Ngobeni and his colleagues who arrested several ATM bombers armed with several firearms, stolen vehicles and explosives.

Constable Nyongwana and his colleagues who confronted and arrested a gang of seven criminals before they could carry out a cash-in-transit heist and seized several firearms that in all probability would have been used to kill innocent bystanders.

Reservist Constable Mochine and colleagues who pursued and arrested three suspects for hijacking and who, at the same time, resisted a payment of a R15 000 bribe.

A team of police officers who assisted in a search-and-rescue mission following an earthquake in Haiti and another team of police officers who were held hostage for 16 days while being deployed as UNAMID Police Advisors in Sudan to assist with effecting peace in SUDAN.

Constable Khonzapi and others who saved a man from drowning while trapped in a vehicle that plunged into a dam.

Constable Khoza, Warrant Officer Conradie, Reservist Mamarara and Warrant Officer Yende who in separate incidents and along with their collegues, arrested suspects for business robbery while being shot at. One of these dangerous suspects received a sentence of 54 years’ imprisonment.

Warrant Office Killian and his colleagues who arrested a suspect for dealing in drugs and resisting a bribe of R1 million.

Female Constable Mgobhozi and Colonel Wiese and colleagues arrested a rapist and serial rapist who received two and five life sentences in jail respectively.

Constable Maseko and colleagues who extinguished a fire which engulfed a bus, and thereby saved lives.

Warrant Officer Merrick prevented a robbery and arrested an armed suspect while he was OFF DUTY.

Constable Ntandane and colleagues who arrest a suspect for the murder and attempted murder of a police officer.
http://www.saps.gov.za/_dynamicModules/internetSite/newsBuild.asp?myURL=1161
Click to expand...

These are the caliber of officer we want and need in the SAPS
 
Obviously, it over exaggerates for “not even one policeman is doing the job correctly”.
my apology ……. :o

but I guess ……

10% integrity, honest, hard work, trustworthy ….NB with passion. (we should respect them) :)
50% just-a-job.
20% opportunistic ….. (looking for bribe by intimidation etc) :wtf:
10% suspension with pay
10% convicted criminals :mad:

fair enough? :)
 
R/SGT said:
You usually won’t see many positive police stories in the news unless it is something major, most good police work goes unnoticed except for the people directly involved.

Police officers across South Africa respond to tens of thousands of complaints across SA every day, they range from disturbance of the peace to violent riots and the majorities are resolved with a minimum of fanfare and then the officer’s move on to the next one.

Yet as soon as a major negative event hits the news you get people spewing hate towards all members of the SAPS, yet many of those very same people won’t hesitate to call next time the neighbors start playing their music to loud.

As for Dreamking, there was a riot and a dead man was apparently found so it was automatically the police who did it?

What happens if he was one of those people shooting at the police and they returned fire to protect themselves, what then?
Click to expand...

I understand your point, however, two rights should never hide one wrong, IMO. Yes, cops are not all bad, and the good cops are invisible, but the cops that are bad should, in fact must, be exposed. If a cop does something right, saving lives, arresting criminals, etc, then good. That's his/her job. But police brutality is not on, no matter what good cops do. A million cases of cops doing the right thing does not out way one case of brutality.
 
Ronjay said:
I understand your point, however, two rights should never hide one wrong, IMO. Yes, cops are not all bad, and the good cops are invisible, but the cops that are bad should, in fact must, be exposed. If a cop does something right, saving lives, arresting criminals, etc, then good. That's his/her job. But police brutality is not on, no matter what good cops do. A million cases of cops doing the right thing does not out way one case of brutality.
Click to expand...

Agreed, if they break the law then they must be prosecuted even more vigorously than a normal citizen

Dreamking, I wouldnt quite agree with your breakdown, but for the majority it is just a job
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X