The South African Police Service (SAPS) has continued to face staunch criticism over the alleged refusal by officers at the Douglasdale police station to book recovered stolen goods, despite assurances by management that the matter had been handled.
The police faced criticism recently when a traffic officer shared a video making grave allegations against the Douglasdale police station.
The officer claimed that the station had declined to log recovered items following the arrest of five theft suspects. In the video, the officer asserted that the station commander instructed their team not to provide the officers with the SAP13 form used for exhibit booking, instead instructing them to depart.
“Now I understand why people don’t respect the police. It is this behaviour,“ the officer lamented.
Gauteng police management explained after the video went viral that the police station had not refused to accept the goods, but had instead advised that the goods be returned to the rightful owner, who had already been identified.
They claimed that the process adhered to legal exhibit management protocols, a system crafted to guarantee the prompt and efficient return of recovered items to their rightful owners.
The police said they welcomed the assistance from other law enforcement agencies and stakeholders who avail themselves to fight against crime.
Despite this clarification, social media users said they were not surprised by the officers video as they claimed other law enforcement agencies were picking up the police’s slack.
“How come they don’t hand us back our cars after they’ve been reported missing and are subsequently found? They must be impounded first and we pay all sorts of costs to have them back. Why is it never this simple,” wrote one X user.
Another user Phure Maja wrote: “That officer is not mad, he can’t just risk his job by recklessly recording that video. I stand with him.”
User BurnsMakhanian added: “This is happening everywhere not only in that area. They no longer open cases or arrest perps. Sometimes they refer you to court or laugh at you. It makes me wonder why they became police officers and swore oaths to Serve, Protect and Uphold the law.”
The Star