
Johannesburg- National police commissioner General Khehla Sitole says the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (DPCI) cannot claim to be an elite unit when it in fact faces a dire shortage of investigators.
Sitole revealed this on Wednesday when he briefed Parliament’s police portfolio committee on measures they were taking to tackle the scourge of crime, following the shocking statistics released last week.
“The (Hawks) numbers have deteriorated from 5000 to about 2500 now, but their current shortage to respond to crime is 2800. With this shortage they can’t claim to be an elite investigative organisation,” he said.
According to Sitole, the shortage of officers at police stations to address police visibility in communities stood at 62000.
He said over and above these shortages, the DPCI was functioning with 50% less structure.