Vulnerability of police stations highlighted by ISS

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The National Institute for Security Studies says vigilante and robbery activities happening at different police stations highlights the vulnerability of these stations.

Break-ins that led to the stealing of police guns and ammunition amongst other valuables, as well as community protests, are just some of the threats faced by many police officials who are seemingly not capacitated to defend themselves.

Three suspects broke into the Verulam Police Station in KwaZulu-Natal just two months ago and allegedly made off with valuables, and just recently, the Delareyville Police Station in North West was under threat when community members attempted to storm in to attack a suspect who had been arrested for murder.

This has raised concerns, with activists saying that police are tasked with protecting citizens, though they cannot secure their own stations.

Angry Delareyville community members burnt tyres and pelted the station with stones, demanding that the police release a suspect, just so they can take matters into their own hands. This incident is said to be one of those threatening the safety of police.

According to the South African Gun-Owners Association (SAGA), over 10% of South African Police firearms have been stolen in the past two decades and more than 9.5 million rounds of ammunition have been stolen since 2016. Crime and Justice Hub Manager at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Lizette Lancaster says this is a huge concern.

“We have seen for a number of years sporadic attacks on police stations, either by community members angry and protesting against crime and seeking justice in their community. We’re also seeing criminals robbing police stations, especially of their firearms. We also know that protest actions increase as we’re ahead of elections. Some of the police stations have indicated that they are vulnerable. like banks, police stations have many valuable items in them that are often the target of criminals. Whether it’s firearms, whether it’s police uniforms or official stamps.”

Crime Activist Ian Cameron says it is unfortunate that it is quite easy to break into a police station.

“It’s easier to break into some police stations than what it is to break into some normal houses, even easier to break into police stations than what is to break into a shack. The reason being that there are no early warning systems placed at the majority of police stations in South Africa. In fact, some police members are sitting ducks, waiting to be attacked because there is nothing that tells them that there is some kind of threat coming in from the outside. Very often when I am at police stations, you’d see that safes aren’t locked, they are standing open close to a charge office or a community service centre, where you can clearly see firearms and ammunition being stored and the list goes on. It has become a common occurrence.”

Lancaster explains that other police stations are reported to even have private security.

“We have seen in how a crime area or police in some areas that there is private security in police stations. This is one of serious cases for quite some time, for a number of years. It is mainly done because the police resources are allocated to fight crime in communities and undertake crime prevention. It is a curious situation but one that has been there for a number of years. Of course we don’t have details. There’s no annual report on details about which stations have these and why is that the case.”

Cameron blames political appointments, saying capable leaders are needed to halt these crimes from happening.

“The root cause is broken leadership in the South African Police Sservice. It’s filled with political appointments and if we don’t change that, then we can’t expect ground level changes to happen. Yes, we can install early warning systems, yes, we can appoint more cops, but in the end, we need to make sure that there’s something that prevents these crimes from happening. We have crime intelligence, we need cops with integrity in order to stop these incidents before they happen and arrest the suspects and make sure that they are convicted before they hurt someone or kill an innocent cop.”

An SABC enquiry national police remained unanswered.