Over 500 police officers found guilty of crimes
538 police officials out of the 669 charged were guilty of crimes such as murder, rape, theft and corruption in the 2008/09 financial year alone
The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) found 38 policemen "guilty" of murder, 33 of attempted murder and 30 of rape. The highest number of offenses was for theft, with 108.
More police officers in the Western Cape have been found guilty of crimes than in any of the other provinces, with 182 officers convicted for a range of crimes in the 2008/09 period.
Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said it was unacceptable that police officers should commit crime, but there was only so much the SAPS was allowed to do about it.
This after revelations 538 police officials out of the 669 charged were found to be guilty of crimes such as murder, rape, theft and corruption in that period. Mthethwa said these officials had no excuse as they knew the law and the difference between right and wrong.
"We can't talk about uprooting crime in society when those responsible for doing it are involved in crime," he said.
But he said police officers, like any other citizen, were protected by the constitution as well as "the human rights culture", which meant police authorities could not act any more harshly against them than other criminals.
He said the upside was that the police officials mentioned in the statistics were exposed by colleagues, which shows that there are officers who act against crime.
"We always commend such actions," he said.
Mthethwa, however, said the police were not overly concerned about recording what happened to officers accused of crimes once convicted, as such officers were no longer regarded as part of the police, but as part of the criminal world.
He said administration to follow up such cases took officers off the beat at a time when the SAPS was trying to improve visible policing.
Mthethwa said although those wanting to become police officers went through a strict vetting process, there was talk of ongoing vetting processes and training for police officers.
Mthethwa last week refused to provide FF+ MP Pieter Groenewald with the statistics of police officers charged with crimes from 2005 to 2007, as they were "not readily available" and "would necessitate the redeployment of police employees to verify every case that is relevant to the period in question", which would be "to the detriment of other essential duties or service delivery in the community".
The statistics provided to Groenewald showed that most of the cops convicted of crimes after SAPS disciplinary hearings were in the Western Cape (182), while Gauteng had the fewest convictions (18).
In KwaZulu-Natal 26 of the 34 officers charged with crimes were convicted, while the number in the neighbouring Eastern Cape was much higher, with 81 convicted out of 107 charged. In the Free State, 74 were convicted out of 93 charged.
In the Western Cape theft (41 charges), assault (41), reckless driving (33) and driving under the influence (18) were the most common crimes committed by police officers, while in KwaZulu-Natal corruption (10) was the most common crime committed by police officers, followed by theft (7), assault (4) and murder (3). In Gauteng, five officers were charged with aiding an escapee.
Nationally, 38 cops were "charged with or convicted of" murder, 33 were charged with attempted murder and 30 of rape.
Substance abuse and drunkenness were also popular, with six officers charged with dealing in dagga, 14 with possessing illegal substances, 35 with driving under the influence and five with drunkenness.
Some 108 officers were charged with theft, 34 and 89 officers are charged with fraud and corruption on the job respectively, and 31 with defeating the ends of justice.
Firearm-related charges include four cases of failing to safeguard a firearm, three of possession of a firearm without a licence, three of loss of a firearm, five of the possession of a stolen firearm, two of discharging a firearm in a residential area, nine of pointing a firearm and two for the handling of a firearm while under the influence of alcohol.
One police officer was charged with hijacking and another one of stock theft, and five with housebreaking and theft.
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