Police Harassment – What To Do When The Protectors Becomes The Aggressors.

 A close friend of mine and his wife had an unfortunate incident with the SAPS (South African Police Service) last night.  

This is their story:

“I was returning home from a party last night when we got stopped by the SAPS on the freeway.  We were made to pull-off on the side of this busy freeway into the emergency lane. Two policemen then approached my car with loaded weapons and were extremely rude, screaming and shouting for me to get out of the car. My wife, who is 5 months pregnant and was sleeping at the time, was rudely woken up by their banging guns on the rear side windows. She was abruptly told to get out of the car too.

They then proceeded to search my wife’s vehicle’s boot and asked what the items in the boot were. This included my wife’s gym bag, some groceries we had purchased earlier, and the spare tire.

They also searched me. Before they did, I informed them that I carried a firearm for self-defence purposes and which I had a valid licence for. Upon searching me, he then pulled out my firearm from its holster, unloaded the firearm, and proceeded to dry-fire it at my feet!

He then asked why I carried hollow points as they were "illegal" - which I know isn't and I told him so. Furthermore, he also found my spare magazine and he asked why I had so many bullets, in which I replied, I can have up to 200 rounds of ammunition with me as a self-defence licence holder.

He then proceeded to ask me a series of sarcastic questions such as,  Why I was driving my wife's car? Why was my wife sleeping? Why is she tired (“uh...because she is pregnant”)? Why do I carry a weapon?  Why do I have groceries in my car? Why don't I protect my parents? (That last one caught me out of the blue).   

After about 20mins of this harassment, they eventually they let me leave, but I was extremely upset by the way they treated my wife and I. Unfortunately, I had tried to get some details from them at the end of the incident. When I asked for his name, he laughed at me and walked back to his car, muttering some inaudible grunt to me. Since I was on a busy freeway, and my wife was a bit traumatised, I just left it and headed off as soon as I could.

I am so pissed off right now, what could I have done better?"

My first response was that he did everything correctly. Being a hot-head normally, I was surprised by the way he kept himself contained for as long as he did. Using some personal contacts and various other means, I was able to quickly compile some further advice for my traumatised friends:

1. Remain calm and co-operative at all time.
2. Maintain constant dialogue in a respectful, non-sarcastic manner (even though you may be fuming on the inside).
3. Should you carry any firearm, inform the officer as such. BE SURE TO BE CARRYING BOTH YOUR DRIVER’S LICENCE and FIREARM LICENCE with you at all times when you are driving and/or carrying.
4. Keep your hands out of the pockets of jackets and jeans. It looks too suspicious.
5. Don’t make any sudden movements or gestures. REMEMBER, KEEP YOUR COOL!
6. When the officer is done, politely ask his name, station and the “CALL SIGN” of his vehicle.
7.  The CALL SIGN is marked on the side of the police vehicle and has 2 alpha letters & 2 numerals.  For example, “SD34”, indicates the station (SD = Sandton) and the vehicle number (34).  This CALL SIGN, together with the time of the incident, can be tracked on the AVL tracker system for future reference. It will also indicate the officers who were operating the vehicle at the time.
8. If you feel the incident was unjust or the service was not satisfactory, you can report the incident to the SAPS’s Centre for Service Excellence on the toll-free line, 0800 333 177 (refer to http://www.saps.gov.za/services/services.php).
9. Be sure to supply them with details of the incident, the CALL SIGN of the vehicle, the time of the incident, and the names of the officers and the station of where they are based (if you got them, else the call sign is suffice).  
10. Lastly, breathe and relax before heading back onto the road. Get your cool back before you get back on the road. You don’t want to be driving angry.

This is an unfortunate incident once again of our protectors abusing their powers.  It really makes my blood boil when I hear of such stories as I really do respect and admire the SAPS and its members for the good work they do in our country. Furthermore, having friends who are members of the SAPS, I understand the sacrifices they make to be able to protect us from the criminal elements out there and are truly grateful for them. However, it’s a few “bad apples” such as these two officers that really just tarnish the reputation of the SAPS, and undermine the good work they do.

Through my friends’ experience, I hope this EDUCATES and EMPOWERS you on how to handle such incidents in future, and to encourage you live a positive and fully-ENGAGED life.

Till next time. Be safe. Be vigilant. Just Be.