Durban -
Local police have taken to social media to express their concerns as part of the international “my life matters” campaign.
Using the hashtag #MyLifeMatters and #BlueLivesMatter, policemen upload a picture of their name badges with the titles of the hashtags written on their hands.
This is usually followed by a caption which expresses the concerns of policemen who are trying to prove that their lives matter and that they are not “lifeless souls”.
The campaign which started in Baltimore in the US was sparked by a wave of anti-police protests by the public after a man was killed while in police custody two weeks ago.
Now, local SAPS members are expressing the same sentiments.
Sergeant Stephen Clark uploaded a picture of his badge on Facebook with a caption that read: “We are not cannon fodder. We are not soulless robots made to march into a war zone and if some get destroyed our masters just churn more out of a factory somewhere.”
Clark’s post said policemen were humans too with families.
“There are people who are alive (because I dealt with criminals) who are probably grandparents now. Two generations of countless families exist because I did what I had to do. I wonder if any of them remembers my name. #Mylifematters,” the post read.
Another policeman, Warrant Officer Gary Stevens, posted: “The men in blue risk their lives every day and we never know if we will return to our families.”
Sunday Tribune