Johannesburg - The killing of two officers by a suspect who later shot himself dead at Johannesburg Central police station has highlighted the importance of searching suspects once they have been arrested, a crime and justice expert has said.
Senior researcher for crime and justice at the Institute for Security Studies Dr Johan Burger said it was standard procedure to search a suspect after his or her arrest.
“If he was arrested before getting to the station, he should have been searched properly. If this wasn’t the case, then the arresting officer was grossly negligent,” he said.
Burger said there were two main reasons why searches had to be done on suspects: to ensure they were not armed with any type of weapon that could injure anyone or help them escape, and to make sure the suspects did not have any evidence of any crime on them.
“It has a dual purpose, that is why the searches have to be done properly during the arrest, let alone at the police station.
“It’s difficult if you don’t know the situation, but it does appear as if the arresting officer(s) were negligent,” he said.
Burger said police had specifically improved on their training in this respect as part of the strategy to prevent officers from being killed.
“Part of the officers’ safety is to do the basic things like searching before a suspect is taken into custody.”
Questions were raised over how the arrested suspect in a police booking room was able to shoot and kill two officers.
The suspect was arrested in Turffontein on the night of January 30, a Friday.
He was then taken to Johannesburg Central police station to be held in the cells.
When he got there, he pulled out a handgun and shot Warrant Officer Paulos Maqeba. He then switched off the lights.
A second, unidentified and unarmed officer fled the scene, calling nearby Booysens police station for help, who in turn called Central for help.
Constable Mxolisi Dingiswayo, who was based at Johannesburg Central, responded, only to be shot dead by the detainee.
Maqeba was based at the Booysens station.
A colleague of the murdered policemen said the detainee had taken the gun out after being told to hand over all the items he had on him.
A police officer, who did not want to be named, said the suspect had been taken from his Turffontein home, but was not aware he was being arrested.
“It was only when he was at the booking room that he realised he was being arrested. When an officer started to take down his details and (take his) belongings, the suspect got nervous and took out the gun,” the officer said.
He said the suspect had been taken to the Booysens holding cells, which are in the Johannesburg Central station building.
“There are specific cells for Booysens suspects, and officers from Booysens work there and process them there. The suspect must have been taken from his home to the cells,” he said.
The officer said it was unclear whether it was Maqeba who brought the man in or whether he booked the man in at the cells.
He said Dingiswayo had allegedly gone down to the cells without his bulletproof vest on and was shot immediately.
The suspect then shot himself in the mouth and died. When police officers arrived at the scene, the room was locked and the area was in darkness.
Police spokeswoman Colonel Noxolo Kweza said the man had been arrested for possession of dagga.
Police were still investigating whether the man had been searched when he was arrested. “It is part and parcel of the investigation. I can’t comment on that at the moment,” Kweza said.
Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokes- man Moses Dlamini said they would not be investigating the matter.
“It is not our mandate. If they were killed by other police officers, we would investigate the matter,” he said.
The Star