"We need partners with no hidden agendas, but people who will put the nation's safety above their own personal interests," he said at the Nasdev bi-annual conference in Boksburg yesterday.

The Police Ministry intended to enter into many partnerships with diverse partners.

Mthethwa said there had been changes in the policing environment since 1998 and that these had to be incorporated and reflected in its policy and approaches.

In due course, they would be placed before Parliament as part of the public comment process. The youth had to be central to this dialogue.

"As we implement our strategies, one of the crucial aspects to effective policing is around training."

He said specialised training, firearm handling, crowd control, forensics, and taking statements at police stations should be addressed and attention paid to achieving the desired results.

"This said, for us to swiftly and effectively fight crime; we need to ensure we have police officers who are well trained on an ongoing basis." The first step had been a review of the recruitment process.

The training period had been extended from 12 months to 24 months, and incorporated theoretical and practical aspects.

Mthethwa said the training would also be continuously bench-marked with international standards.

"For example, we are now beginning to improve our forensics because amongst other approaches, we have retrained our personnel; including inviting some of the local and international experts in this field to capacitate our members."

Mthethwa said skills development and the retention of skills remained a priority for the ministry during the 2012/2013 financial year and beyond.

"We believe we shall accomplish this through focused recruitment with emphasis on skills, instead of volume-based recruitment." - Sapa

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Sun May 19 02:46:54 SAST 2013 ::

May 7, 2012

Mafu'theNkukhu

They need to be well trained so they can behave themselves
and stop drinking alcohol while on duty.
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May 7, 2012

RobinH

WTF Nathi. Getting advice on policing policy from some arbitrary student organisation. Have you completely lost your marbles?
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May 7, 2012

MorenaWaPolelo

Who would listen to this Skelm, he must be removed!!!
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May 7, 2012

Bhubesi

Mthethwa said the training would also be continuously bench-marked with international standards.
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Please go further and exceed international standards. No need to duplicate standards just because they are international.
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May 8, 2012

RobinH

Bhubesi. Jees. For now let's just hope they can get somewhere near the bottom line of "international standards" as the situation here, at the moment, is a far cry from being up to standard.
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