The recent attacks and robberies at police stations have put security measures under the spotlight as brazen criminals rob police officers of their firearms and ammunition.
Recently, there have been sporadic incidents wherein criminals use similar modus operandi to target police stations and successfully disarm officers of their service pistols.
The latest robbery took place at Malamulele police station in Limpopo on Sunday night when a group of armed men stormed the station and held members at gunpoint in the Community Service Centre (CSC) office.
According to the police, some members were forced into the back of a police van while another was ordered to unlock the arsenal safe where the suspects took R5 rifles, 9mm pistols, shotguns and an undisclosed number of ammunition.
Last month, a group of criminals disarmed a police officer at Sir Lowry's Pass satellite police station in Cape Town where they made off with two 9mm firearms, three cellphones and a laptop.
Three men held a constable at the Tsineng police station, Northern Cape, and took R5 rifle with two magazines, eight 9mm pistols and 98 rounds of ammunition in August.
Spokesperson Col Athlenda Mathe said none of the firearms and ammunition in these incidents have been recovered.
An independent researcher and consultant for the Institute for Security Studies, David Bruce, said these incidents suggest that there is a need to beef up security at police stations.
"Unfortunately, police corruption also cannot be ruled out as a contributing factor to these crimes. It is possible that the gangs who carry out these robberies have links with members of the SAPS and rely on inside information," he said.
Bruce added that police firearms that are stolen, lost or sold to criminals are some of the main sources of illegal firearms in the country.
"As in this case, attacks like this are likely to be carried out by groups that are linked to robbery or other violent crime. This may be seen as part of the problem of violent organised crime in South Africa and this highlights the fact that the country needs to considerably strengthen its capacity for investigating and responding to the problem of violent organised crime," he said.
Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union spokesperson Richard Mamabolo has attributed the robberies to lack of resources in some of the police stations.
"The SAPS is failing to put enough resources in those stations. There is no way you can place five police officers on night shift and think they will win a fight against criminals when under attack," he said.
Mamabolo further accused the police of falling to implement a safety strategy. "In some of the CSC, there is no window glass to separate police from members of the public. Hence it is easy for criminals to make these stations their playground and endangering the lives of our members," he said.
Mathe said there is a police safety strategy in place and provides for the safety of members and police facilities. “There are physical security measures that must be put at police station and these include fences and gates that should be locked. There must be a security gate at the CSC and there must be doors that must be locked leading to other areas of the station.
"We are busy with projects to upgrade our police stations and they will get bullet proof windows and we have already installed CCTV cameras at some police stations. Every station, district and national, has a police safety committee that analyses and coordinate information and responses and look at how we improve safety of our members throughout the country," Mathe said.
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