Fewer police are being killed now than 20 years ago, but figure is still huge
The rate at which police officers are being murdered has fallen significantly over the past 20 years‚ according to the latest SA Survey‚ published by the South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR).Viewed by decade (1995-2004 and 2005-2014)‚ more than double the number of police officers were murdered in the first decade after apartheid than between 2005 and 2014‚ the IRR said.The survey found that between 1994 and 2004‚ 1‚970 police officers were killed. This decreased by 52%‚ to 945‚ between 2005 and 2014. It also found that the rate of police murders fell 80% from 252 per 100‚000 in 1994‚ to 51 in 2014.IRR crime analyst Kerwin Lebone said: "The police’s primary role in the pre-1994 era was regarded as that of defending the government of the day and police were thus a legitimate target for political attacks." He added that it was a concern that such a significant proportion (46%) were killed while attending to a complaint.Despite the huge drop in police murders‚ SA remains a r...
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