SO NATIONAL Police Commissioner Bheki Cele says the media coined the "Shoot to Kill" mantra that has been driving the police's attitude towards criminals.

SO NATIONAL Police Commissioner Bheki Cele says the media coined the "Shoot to Kill" mantra that has been driving the police's attitude towards criminals.

The closest the top brass has come to the dreaded line, he says, is that the police have been told to use deadly force where necessary. If you are confused, you are not the only one.

Maybe we should borrow from Julius Malema's book and say that Cele is "talking English not politics". Cele will have to say to the police officers how using "deadly force" differs from what we erroneously thought meant shooting to kill.

At any rate, Cele misses the point. What we have argued is that the law already gives police officers the right to use deadly force in certain circumstances and, more importantly, what we need to fight crime is better crime detection and prevention strategies, not the jackboot, by any other name.