South African Police Service in major crisis

Missing police dockets up 56%

There has been a 56 percent increase in the number of missing police dockets over the past year, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday.

This statistic was extracted from a reply to a question in Parliament. The party believes this is evidence that the SA Police Service is in the grip of a major crisis.

In 2005/6, 382 were lost or stolen,

in 2007/8 427 and

in 2008/9 668 dockets, used to record information that can be used for a prosecution, have gone missing.

Only 41 of the 668 cases (6%), resulted in ’disciplinary procedures’ being taken against the members responsible.

"This means that there is no effective deterrent in place, and, thus, that the situation is hardly likely to improve," said a statement from DA MP Diane Kohler-Barnard.

"It goes without saying that missing dockets represent a severe impediment to any police investigation, and the Minister cannot stay silent any longer on what measures are being taken to address this crisis."

Since June 2007, there was a 93.8 percent increase in backlogs at Forensic Science Laboratories countrywide - up from 6,068 to 11,758 backlogged samples in the most recent figures released.

The strain on police investigations and delays in court cases constitutes "one of the most serious impediments to a properly functioning justice system", she said.

Backlogs in chemistry samples (up 103 percent since June 2007), and scientific analysis (61 percent) were also a concern.

The DA suggested urgent steps to eliminate vacancies in the laboratories and a "much better" performance-based salary scheme.

"The war against crime can be won if we have a well managed and resourced police service, it is clear that the ANC is incapable making this a reality," Kohler-Barnard said.

Last week the party said the police had lost, had stolen or otherwise misplaced 8,286 firearms. See - Over 8000 SAPS Firearms Missing