tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/police-murders-19627/articlesPolice murders – The Conversation2020-06-23T05:33:30Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1411912020-06-23T05:33:30Z2020-06-23T05:33:30ZTrust, risk and routine arming: the killing of a frontline officer challenges New Zealand police practice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343360/original/file-20200623-188931-1ree0bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=39%2C0%2C4348%2C3125&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/419504/there-is-no-higher-price-police-pay-tribute-to-slain-officer-matthew-hunt">recent killing</a> of a police officer and the wounding of his colleague in West Auckland will inevitably change police attitudes to their jobs.</p>
<p>Firstly, it will affect how they interact with the public. Such tragedies offer a direct challenge to the democratic conventions of policing in New Zealand, particularly the important idea of policing by consent. </p>
<p>Secondly, the death of Constable Matthew Hunt will inevitably lead to a reexamination of police firearm policies. </p>
<p>And finally, the incident will change the way police officers perceive risk and read risk factors during routine vehicle stops.</p>
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<h2>Renewed calls for routine arming</h2>
<p>As ever when an officer is killed in the line of duty, the debate over permanently arming front-line police resurfaces. While patrol vehicles carry firearms in New Zealand, these are not routinely worn by officers. </p>
<p>Surprisingly, though, there is little international research comparing the nature of routinely armed and routinely unarmed policing. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10439463.2020.1761806">One study</a> of the temporary arming of Norwegian police suggested there is genuine mental strain associated with not carrying firearms. Officers reported being worried about the risks of unexpectedly confronting dangerous situations. They also said this negatively affected their ability to formulate effective tactical plans. </p>
<p>This doesn’t necessarily represent a universal desire to be armed, however. During my earlier <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262255026_The_Strategic_Impact_of_routine_arming_the_New_Zealand_Police">research</a> into the Norwegian Police in 2011, one officer told me he preferred to remain routinely unarmed due to a previous encounter with an armed offender. His life had been spared, he suggested, precisely because he was not carrying a firearm. </p>
<p>This perspective was shared by many of my colleagues during my time on the front-line. But <a href="https://www.policeassn.org.nz/fileadmin/PDF_s/2018_NZPA_Annual_Review.pdf">recent officer surveys</a> have shown an increasing preference over time for routine arming. This latest death will not alter that.</p>
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<h2>Would Armed Response Teams have made a difference?</h2>
<p>The death of Constable Matthew Hunt came only weeks after the Armed Response Team (ART) trial <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/the-detail/300031956/the-detail-what-went-wrong-with-the-new-zealand-armed-response-team">was abandoned</a>, so it is reasonable to ask whether this would have made a difference. </p>
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<p>Given the Auckland incident has been described as a routine vehicle stop, however, and unless it had been an ART unit that made the original stop, it seems unlikely such a deployment would have changed anything.</p>
<p>Until more detail is available it is impossible to estimate whether the deployment of an ART vehicle would have reduced callout times compared with the conventional Armed Offender Squad units that did respond.</p>
<h2>Trust in the public will decline</h2>
<p>As a former constable and sergeant with New Zealand Police, I know firsthand how police fatalities shape one’s behaviour. The 2002 <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2847662">shooting of Detective Constable Duncan Taylor</a> changed my awareness of personal safety and was always in the back of my mind during my operational policing career. </p>
<p>The deaths of another three officers in 2008 and 2009 markedly affected my risk perception. When my colleague Sergeant Derek Wootton <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/porirua/105372177/police-remember-slain-porirua-sergeant-derek-wootton-killed-laying-road-spikes">was killed</a> it raised my awareness of the risks of deploying road spikes when apprehending fleeing drivers. And the deaths of <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/388624/remembering-police-officer-len-snee-killed-in-napier-siege-10-years-ago">Senior Constable Len Snee</a> and <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4074883/Sgt-Don-Wilkinsons-killers-jailed">Sergeant Don Wilkinson</a> reinforced the need for adequate firearms on police operations. </p>
<p>These deaths not only shaped my perception of risk, they affected the trust I had in others when assessing my own safety.</p>
<h2>Perception of risk will change</h2>
<p>Beyond questions of trust, the Auckland incident will shape both formal and informal practice and policy. Police training will include lessons from the incident. Just as importantly, individual officers’ subjective perception of risk and how it affects their decisions will change. </p>
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<p>Research confirms it is the <em>perceived</em> level of threat that informs decision making. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10611-008-9176-7">Studies</a> of officer risk assessment during police vehicle stops show the importance of environmental and social factors.</p>
<p>Unarmed English officers treated traffic stops quite differently to those from Venezuela – perhaps not surprisingly, since the latter were accustomed to having grenades thrown in their direction. </p>
<p>In short, officers perceive risk based on their personal experience and exposure to resistance. </p>
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<h2>Apprehension and arrest are inherently dangerous</h2>
<p>The Auckland incident again highlights the difficulty associated with one of the most dangerous aspects of police work.</p>
<p>My research into front-line policing in New Zealand and South Australia revealed the real danger for officers during the live investigation phase of police encounters, such as responding to family violence incidents or stopping vehicles.</p>
<p>Apprehending someone <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324857666_Procedural_conflict_and_conflict_resolution_a_cross-national_study_of_police_officers_from_New_Zealand_and_South_Australia">involves</a> the most frequent use (and longest duration) of physical control behaviours. Officers can employ verbal control techniques – questioning, directions or commands – but there is no getting away from the fact that arrest requires the physical custody of a person. </p>
<p>While police might expect resistance, they <em>trust</em> that citizens will ultimately consent to their actions and that their lives will not be placed in jeopardy. </p>
<p>This latest police death will naturally cause many in the police to question that trust. The challenge for policy makers will be to balance the desirable elements of New Zealand policing with the practical need to ensure officer safety.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141191/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ross Hendy formerly worked for New Zealand Police as a constable and sergeant in the Wellington district. He has previously received research funding and study support from New Zealand Police. He is a member of the New Zealand Police Association, the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology, the Australia & New Zealand Society of Evidence Based Policing and a full member of the Royal Society of New Zealand.</span></em></p>As a former NZ Police sergeant, I know firsthand how police fatalities shape one’s behaviour. The recent shooting of two officers in Auckland cuts to the heart of NZ’s trust-based policing policies.Ross Hendy, Lecturer in Criminology, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/533182016-02-03T04:24:25Z2016-02-03T04:24:25ZShedding light on the hidden epidemic of police suicide in South Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109825/original/image-20160201-32227-cf5wyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"> Police officers in South Africa are four times more likely to kill themselves than be murdered. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Dylan Martinez</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Suicide in the South African Police Service (SAPS) is at epidemic levels. Between 2012 and 2013, 115 officers died by <a href="http://www.saps.gov.za/about/stratframework/annual_report/2012_2013/ar2013_01_parta.pdf">suicide</a> compared to 29 officers murdered on duty, an alarming four to one ratio. Unfortunately these statistics are not an anomaly.</p>
<p>Based on calculations from the <a href="http://www.saps.gov.za/about/stratframework/annual_report/2012_2013/ar2013_00_front_content.pdf">SAPS annual 2012-13 report</a> and <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P03093/P030932013.pdf">Statistics South Africa</a>, the number of police deaths by suicide was 73.9 per 100,000 officers. By comparison, 0.9 per 100,000 South Africans die by suicide. </p>
<p>While the unacceptably high rate of police murders attracts much media coverage, the bigger problem of suicide among police receives little focus.</p>
<p>Other countries face similar challenges but do not publish suicide statistics among police officers – even though suicide is the leading cause of death among them in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Police-Suicide-Culture-Killing-Officers/dp/1482234998/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1454347028&sr=8-2&keywords=police+suicide">most democratic countries</a>. In the US, for example, the FBI has published only aggregated data of the number of officers injured both on and off duty since 1945 but have excluded statistics on officers who have died by suicide. </p>
<p>There are many challenges in dealing with the issue of suicide in police organisations. In South Africa, the recent <a href="http://www.khayelitshacommission.org.za/bundles/bundle-five/category/161-4-saps-statements.html">Khayelitsha Commission of Enquiry</a> into allegations of police inefficiency heard that dealing with emotive issues within the police is made all the more difficult by the prevailing attitude that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Cowboys don’t cry. </p>
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<p>And the <a href="http://www.sahrc.org.za/home/21/files/marikana-report-1.pdf">Marikana Commission of Inquiry</a> highlighted the high prevalence of depression and post-traumatic stress, which are known precursors to suicide, among South African police. According to the report of the 153,000 (estimated) SAPS personnel, 10,000 officers suffered from depression and 2700 from post-traumatic stress disorder. </p>
<h2>Language of shame</h2>
<p>These difficulties are compounded by the social stigma of suicide often created by the language and reactions that surround it. Suicide is an action which is regularly referred to as having been “committed” – a word normally associated with a criminal act.</p>
<p>Such language may influence how the police, and society, react to death by suicide. It has yet to be fully recognised that, in policing and elsewhere, people die by suicide; they do not necessarily “commit” it. </p>
<p>Police officers as a group are not skilled in talking about personal issues, especially suicide or depression which are often perceived as shameful, which may prevent them from seeking help.</p>
<p>Such phrasing may also contribute to why the names of officers who die by suicide are excluded on memorial walls and annual rolls of honour. This, despite some of the officers having served society for years before taking their own life.</p>
<p>Why, indeed, would they be included if they are associated with doing something wrong? The language used, plus the denial of a state funeral and exclusion from rolls of honour, all contribute to the continued stigmatisation of police suicides. </p>
<h2>Fighting stigma and ending bias</h2>
<p>Failing to acknowledge the career of an officer, and only focusing on how they died, may stigmatise the issue of suicide even further in policing. Additionally, how an officer died can result in radically different financial results for their bereaved families. </p>
<p>If a member of the SAPS is killed while on duty, the family gets paid a death benefit and proceeds from life insurances. But should an officer die by suicide, no compensation benefit is received by the family.</p>
<p>These issues surrounding suicide could be addressed by the introduction of a National Suicide Prevention Strategy Plan, which would incorporate some of the most vulnerable groups – such as the police. </p>
<p>The World Health Organisation’s first world suicide report, <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/131056/1/9789241564779_eng.pdf?ua=1&ua=1">Preventing suicide: a global imperative</a>, recommends such a plan. While a national strategy is yet to be defined, the SAPS do have employee health and wellness officers. But they are overwhelmed by an already heavy workload.</p>
<p>They have their hands full dealing with everything from financial difficulties to physical and mental health, including suicide prevention, for members of the police service.</p>
<h2>What can be done</h2>
<p>In 2008, the <a href="http://www.badgefolife.com">Badge of Life</a> organisation conducted the National Surveillance of Police Suicides – the first to examine police suicide in the US. </p>
<p>This study has been continued annually to establish, track and analyse the extent of the problem in law enforcement. In doing so, they aim to provide clarity and continually monitor the issues and circumstances surrounding police suicides. </p>
<p>Having programs such as this would contribute hugely to understanding suicide and its impact in South African police culture. To date very little research has been done on the causes of police suicide. This needs to change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53318/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gráinne Perkins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While the unacceptably high rate of police murders in South Africa attracts much media coverage, the bigger problem of suicide among police receives little focus.Gráinne Perkins, PhD Student, Centre of Criminology, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/472862015-10-16T03:54:36Z2015-10-16T03:54:36ZSouth Africa mulls body cameras to improve police accountability, safety<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98540/original/image-20151015-30734-ebhozy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Colorado Springs officer with a body-worn camera. There is growing support to introduce the technology in South Africa.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Rick Wilking</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The argument for the use of police body cameras is gaining momentum in South Africa, amid growing demand for greater police accountability, especially in the wake of the <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/marikana-massacre-16-august-2012">Marikana massacre</a>. </p>
<p>The cameras are typically worn on the chests of police officers. Their use is becoming <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/robert-muggah/cop-cams-go-global">common globally</a>. </p>
<p>The chairperson of parliament’s portfolio committee on policing, <a href="http://www.parliament.gov.za/live/content.php?Item_ID=215&CommitteeID=99">Francois Beukman</a>, recently asked for <a href="http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/77a0510049aaa037bbe6bba84320b537/SAPS-asked-to-use-more-technology-in-combating-police-killings-20153008">serious discussions</a> on introducing body cameras in the <a href="http://www.saps.gov.za/">South African Police Service</a>. </p>
<p>The police say they are discussing the use of <a href="https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/21400/">technology</a>, including body cameras, to improve communications and for the <a href="http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/77a0510049aaa037bbe6bba84320b537/SAPS-asked-to-use-more-technology-in-combating-police-killings-20153008">safety of officers</a>. South Africa has a high rate of <a href="https://www.issafrica.org/iss-today/iss-today-how-to-stop-police-brutality-and-the-killing-of-police-officers-in-south-africa">police murders</a>.</p>
<h2>The case for police-worn body cameras</h2>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.ojpdiagnosticcenter.org/sites/default/files/spotlight/download/Police%20Officer%20Body-Worn%20Cameras.pdf">study</a> involving the random assignment of body cameras to half of the 54 patrol officers in Rialto, California, showed:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… shifts without cameras experienced twice as many incidents of use of force as shifts with cameras.</p>
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<p>and</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… the rate of use of force incidents per 1000 contacts was reduced by 2.5 times.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In a recent examination of allegations of police inefficiency in <a href="http://www.khayelitshacommission.org.za/images/towards_khaye_docs/Khayelitsha_Commission_Report_WEB_FULL_TEXT_C.pdf">Khayelitsha</a>, a township for black people in Cape Town, criminologist <a href="http://www.criminology.uct.ac.za/dr-andrew-faull">Andrew Faull</a> suggested body cameras could improve the ability of police management to monitor officers’ <a href="http://www.khayelitshacommission.org.za/bundles/bundle-twelve/category/266-1-expert-reports.html?start=20">interactions</a> with civilians. </p>
<p>In March 2015, the <a href="http://www.apcof.org/home/">African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum</a> produced a <a href="http://igarape.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/AE-14_SMART-POLICING1.pdf">comprehensive report</a> on smart policing technologies. The report highlighted the need for body cameras on local police.</p>
<p>It also cited the Igarape Instute’s <a href="http://www.igarape.org.br/en/smart-policing/">Smart Policing Project</a>. The project consists of an app for smartphones that tracks video, audio and GPS coordinates passively and in real time. It aims to improve police accountability and strengthen public safety in low- and middle-income settings in Brazil, Kenya and South Africa. </p>
<p>South Africa ran a one-month pilot scheme under the Smart Policing Project in October 2014. The <a href="http://www.saps.gov.za/">South African Police Service</a> and the Cape Town municipal police declined to participate because the technology was <a href="http://igarape.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/AE-14_SMART-POLICING1.pdf">not stable</a>. According to Gideon Morris, the provincial secretary
for police, the focus of the pilot was:</p>
<p>… >to get the technology stable enough and to try and expand the use of it once they know that the prototype is working fully. Once this had been achieved the discussion with SAPS will be resumed.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, traffic officers from the National Department of Transport who took part in the pilot were not averse to wearing body cameras. They responded positively, saying their actions were questioned less by the public who knew they were being recorded.</p>
<h2>Police brutality a rising problem</h2>
<p>Incidents of <a href="http://www.csvr.org.za/index.php/media-articles/latest-csvr-in-the-media/2494-why-sa-cops-are-so-brutal.html">police brutality</a> are an ongoing problem in South Africa and body camera technology may help reduce them. Among the most recent high-profile cases:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>In 2013, cellphone images showed <a href="http://www.news24.com/Tags/People/mido_macia">Mido Macia</a>, a Mozambican national working in South Africa as a taxi driver, handcuffed and being dragged behind a <a href="https://www.google.co.za/search?q=Mido+Macia&rlz=1C1CHWA_enZA634ZA634&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=633&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CDQQ7AlqFQoTCO3IxeqIxMgCFYdcFAod6qYLfg">police van</a>. The images were shot by members of the public and were <a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2015/08/25/Judge-throws-book-at-cops-who-murdered-Mido-Macia">used in court</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>In 2011, the South African Broadcasting Corporation broadcast images of the killing by police of a protester <a href="http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/d1a81b804d5cbf7f8f72ffe570eb4ca2/SAHRCundefinedunpacksundefinedreportundefinedonundefinedTatanesundefinedmurder-20120711">Andries Tatane</a>. Despite the evidence, the inability to accurately identify the officers involved resulted in their <a href="http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2013/03/28/court-acquits-police-officers-in-andries-tatane-case">acquittal</a>. </p></li>
</ul>
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<h2>Use of technology not without risks</h2>
<p>The advantages of body cameras seem obvious. The civilian oversight forum report highlighted the potential benefits of recordings, including for police training. <a href="http://www.bwvsg.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/BWV-Scottish-Report.pdf">Research</a> from Scotland supports the evidentiary benefits of body cameras, saying they expedite resolution of cases. </p>
<p>They also provide additional protection for the police from public complaints. That way, they may even reduce the costs to the state from civil claims.</p>
<p>But the use of footage is not without <a href="https://theconversation.com/beware-the-unintended-consequences-of-police-worn-body-cameras-47882">unintended consequences</a>. In Australia, it was found that a victim’s demeanour at a scene often differed greatly from what was presented in the courtroom. Footage depicting the initial reactions of a victim compared to the post traumatic aftermath can result in a victim essentially being re-victimised in the process. </p>
<p>The disadvantages of cameras also relate to <a href="http://harvardlawreview.org/2015/04/considering-police-body-cameras/">privacy issues</a> for both the police and the public.</p>
<h2>Legislative changes required</h2>
<p>Among the hurdles to the use of technology in policing is the the need for enabling legislation, especially to cover cases where privacy and evidential matters arise. Unfortunately the law will always remain light years behind technology.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/a25-02.pdf">Electronic Communications and Transactions Act</a> governs the admissibility and evidential weight of electronic evidence in court. </p>
<p>South African law relating to electronic evidence is, however, hampered by the lack of procedures governing the collection, storage and presentation of electronic evidence for purposes of <a href="https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/2009_1/watney/watney.pdf">criminal proceedings</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/salrc/media/20141210-DP131.pdf">South African Law Reform Commission</a> has recommended changes to legislation to address the issue.</p>
<h2>Clearing hurdles to progress</h2>
<p>The use of body cameras in South Africa is an inevitable, welcome progression. But for this to happen, both the public and the police must actively embrace the technology for their mutual benefit.</p>
<p>There also needs to be discussion about the extent that these technological advances can help or hinder academic research of the police. Police are notoriously difficult for researchers to access. Will it mean they have a legitimate reason to exclude personal access and require researchers to study camera footage instead?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47286/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gráinne Perkins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Police brutality is an ongoing problem in South Africa. Police-worn body cameras may help reduce such incidents by improving accountability. They may also contribute to the safety of officers.Gráinne Perkins, PhD Student, Centre of Criminology, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/461502015-08-20T04:30:54Z2015-08-20T04:30:54ZReflections on police funerals: what they say about South Africa’s policing culture<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92424/original/image-20150819-10836-os1ihv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The conduct of police at colleagues' funerals sheds light on police culture.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Dylan Martinez </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Police funerals and memorial services can reveal as much about the living as they do about the dead. </p>
<p>South African police are murdered at a high rate. Between April 2013 and May 2014 <a href="http://www.saps.gov.za/about/stratframework/annual_report/2013_2014/ar2014_01_parta.pdf">68 members</a> of the South African Police Service (SAPS) died while on duty. How many were murdered is difficult to say as deaths are reported “as a result of a motor vehicle accident or murder”.</p>
<p>Countries differ in the way they report police deaths, making comparisons difficult. But in the US, which has a <a href="http://www.census.gov/popclock/">population</a> six times the size of <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022014.pdf">South Africa</a>, 51 law enforcement officers were <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2014-preliminary-statistics-for-law-enforcement-officers-killed-in-the-line-of-duty">murdered</a> in the line of duty in 2014. </p>
<p>South Africa’s high police mortality rate means that funerals and memorial services for members of the SAPS are all too common. Memorial services allow colleagues, family and communities to pay their respects prior to the body being brought to the home place for burial. What happens and what is said at these services can help us understand various aspects of the South African police culture.</p>
<p>Police funerals are a window through which the police subculture can be examined. The rites, rituals and symbols associated with the formality of the funeral procession itself speak to the subculture of danger, isolation and the formality of police work. </p>
<p>Criminologist <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/2392375">Peter Manning</a> states that a police funeral is a kind of miniature re-enactment and representation of the drama of policing itself. While police funerals are a formal affair, memorial services are a more informal ritual and have yet to receive the same level of attention with regard to what they can reveal about the police subculture. </p>
<h2>An orderly affair</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92175/original/image-20150817-5124-bf3iau.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92175/original/image-20150817-5124-bf3iau.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92175/original/image-20150817-5124-bf3iau.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92175/original/image-20150817-5124-bf3iau.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92175/original/image-20150817-5124-bf3iau.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92175/original/image-20150817-5124-bf3iau.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92175/original/image-20150817-5124-bf3iau.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Funeral of Warrant Officer Petrus Holz, August 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grainne Perkins</span></span>
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<p>Similar to police funerals, which are governed by national instructions and <a href="http://www.saps.gov.za/legislation/acts/act68of1995.pdf">standing orders</a>, police memorial services are structured events. The ceremonial framework reflects the order normally associated with police procedures. Pamphlets provide an overview stating what politicians and senior ranking officers will speak alongside family members and colleagues of the deceased.</p>
<p>Memorial services also tip the proverbial cap to the formal rituals of a police funeral and also include guards of honour and a strong police presence in dress uniforms. These rituals tend to take centre stage. </p>
<p>However, at memorial services, it is the spaces between these formal structures where the informal culture of the police often emerges.</p>
<h2>Music trumps formality</h2>
<p>Music and song are an important part of South African culture and identity. Police memorial services are no different in this regard and spontaneous singing from the congregation often happens. The programme is rarely adhered to and individuals randomly sing inbetween assigned speakers.</p>
<p>Owing to such musical intervals, a timed service of an hour often stretches to beyond three hours. While a police-appointed master of ceremonies is there to keep the timing of proceedings, they often end up joining in with the singing.</p>
<p>These customs and cultures of the community overshadow the pre-arranged police plan. In this respect, music and song connects the police with the community that they serve. </p>
<p>More often than not, while the congregation dances to songs, senior police management and politicians remain seated and unmoving. The contrast between seated management and the dancing congregation offers a perspective on the police subculture. </p>
<p>In dancing, the officers in attendance become part of the community. In remaining seated, senior management continue to represent an image of order maintenance. A subculture of formality and order remains with senior ranking officers even when police come together to mourn one of their own.</p>
<h2>Political point-scoring</h2>
<p>In South Africa, and internationally, attempting to separate politics from police funerals is an impossible task. <a href="http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2015/02/09/death-and-anc-politics">Politicians</a> regularly use such services as platforms to promote their own agendas.</p>
<p>A common call by politicians at such services is for stronger <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/cop-killers-will-be-hunted-zuma-1.1895006#.VdOFlJeIp4N">legislative approaches</a> to deal with police killers. This reinforces an “us” and “them” culture among police. Such political point-scoring overshadows the memorial for the deceased and reinforces the idea that the police are separate from, rather than part of, the community.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gov.za/speeches/key-note-remarks-deputy-minister-police-hon-ms-makhotso-maggie-sotyu-mp-official-funeral">Politicians</a> are not the only people to use memorial services for political persuasion. <a href="http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=10774">Police union</a> representatives are given an opportunity to address the congregation and also take the microphone to advance their agendas as well. </p>
<p>In the subsequent address, often calling for a return of the death penalty for offenders, police officers become referred to as “comrades” – a term political activists use to refer to one another, especially during the struggle against apartheid. </p>
<p>The police identity becomes distinctly militarised. The talk about the police’s war <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2015/07/31/Popcru-slams-cop-killings">against crime</a> and criminals reinforces an image of the police as a force as opposed to a service. </p>
<p>Owing to the rate at which South African police are murdered, these services allow one to examine the police subculture from a different perspective. The normal traditions associated with most funerals, such as music and song choice, can have particular importance when analysing the culture associated with police funerals. </p>
<p>Whether these services can be used as an analytical tool with which to examine police subculture in South Africa is yet to fully realised.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46150/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gráinne Perkins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>South African police are murdered at a high rate, making funerals and memorial services all too common. What happens and gets said at these services can help us understand aspects of police culture.Gráinne Perkins, PhD Student, Centre of Criminology, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.