Police Committee proposes necessary ingredients for success of newly announced SAPS Specialised Units
The Portfolio Committee on Police is of the view that the announcement by the President of the Republic for the establishment of two new specialised units dealing with narcotics and illegal fire-arms will further contribute to make the police service more professional and effective.
According to Committee Chairperson, Mr Francois Beukman, “There is no substitute for highly-trained and skilled personnel who specialises. There is an appropriate response needed for changing crime trends.
Mr Beukman further said South Africa needs to focus on cross-border and international crime-syndicates and that the capability to be effective in this field requires specialisation. “We believe that the best of the best in South African Police Service (SAPS) and Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) and other agencies should be recruited for these 2 units.”
For the two new units to be successful, according to committee Chairperson, seven essential factors needed to be taken into account and these are:
- Experienced and well-trained unit commanders with expertise police knowledge
- The necessary budget allocation (within the ring-fenced DPCI-budget)
- Special vetting and integrity-testing procedures on a constant basis for all unit-members
- Utilisation of international best practice in training and investigation-protocols
- Appropriate IT and technology capability
- Sufficient international inter-agency cooperation; and
- State-of the art equipment and forensic facilities.
The Committee will monitor whether the above seven essential factors are part and parcel of the development framework of the two new units and will invite the Minister and the DPCI to brief the Committee on this important development in the coming weeks in order to evaluate the preparations for the establishment of the said units.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Temba Gubula
Tel: 021 403 8307
Cell: 078 735 8809
E-mail: tgubula@parliament.gov.za
