Police Watchdog needs sharper teeth
The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) annual report has revealed that the SAPS ignore 96.1% of their ‘recommendations. This is nothing short of utter contempt. I shall be writing to the Head of the ICD, Francois Beukman today to find out when the legislation to give the ICD a new name - the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) and sharp enough teeth to finally force the SAPS to hold police officers who break the law accountable for their actions will be implemented.
The ICD report reveals that only 88 SAPS departmental convictions resulted out of 2 261 ICD recommendations to hold internal disciplinary hearings,
This is a conviction rate of 3.9%.
Some of the extremely weak penalties issued against SAPS members for these convictions include:
- Written warning to a member found guilty of grievous bodily harm
- Written warning for common assault
- 6 months suspension for attempted murder
- Verbal warning for intimidation.