Police disarmament as a result of laxity

"The disarming of 27 000 police members because the members do not have the required competency certificate to carry a firearm is as a result of the laxity of the police management. The new firearms act came into force in 2004 already and also requires police members to obtain competency certificates.

The careless, reckless and negligent manner in which firearms are handled in the Police is now resulted in crime not being combated properly. It is already eight years since the introduction of the law and if the police management had acted timeously, this dilemma would not have arisen," Mr. Pieter Groenewald (MP), the chief spokesperson on Police for the Freedom Front Plus, says.

"If it is taken into consideration that the Police possess 264 845 firearms and in the past seven years 20 429 (since 2004) firearms have been lost and only 4 810 were found again, it is necessary that police members fulfil their obligations pertaining to firearms. For the public, strict requirements for competency and control of firearms are set and a contravention of these requirements is punishable.

It is unthinkable that a member of the Police could move with a firearm amongst the public but is not competent to handle the weapon. No wonder that innocent citizens are shot by negligent actions of the Police. I agree that disarmament could promote crime and will hinder police members but the police management should have acted timeously and they should be blamed for this," Groenewald said.

Statement issued by Mr. Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus Chief Spokesperson: Police, April 25 2012

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