Who is law enforcement

Law enforcement officials may, therefore, be justified if, as a last resort and in accordance with the laws and customs of their own countries and with the provisions of article 4 of the present Code, they bring violations to the attention of public opinion through the mass media.

The core international human rights instruments. Universal human rights instruments. The International Bill of Human Rights. Turn on more accessible mode. Turn off more accessible mode. Commentary : a The term "law enforcement officials", includes all officers of the law, whether appointed or elected, who exercise police powers, especially the powers of arrest or detention.

Article 2 In the performance of their duty, law enforcement officials shall respect and protect human dignity and maintain and uphold the human rights of all persons. Commentary : a The human rights in question are identified and protected by national and international law. Article 3 Law enforcement officials may use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty.

Commentary : a This provision emphasizes that the use of force by law enforcement officials should be exceptional; while it implies that law enforcement officials may be authorized to use force as is reasonably necessary under the circumstances for the prevention of crime or in effecting or assisting in the lawful arrest of offenders or suspected offenders, no force going beyond that may be used.

Article 4 Matters of a confidential nature in the possession of law enforcement officials shall be kept confidential, unless the performance of duty or the needs of justice strictly require otherwise. Commentary : By the nature of their duties, law enforcement officials obtain information which may relate to private lives or be potentially harmful to the interests, and especially the reputation, of others.

Article 5 No law enforcement official may inflict, instigate or tolerate any act of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, nor may any law enforcement official invoke superior orders or exceptional circumstances such as a state of war or a threat of war, a threat to national security, internal political instability or any other public emergency as a justification of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Commentary : a This prohibition derives from the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the General Assembly, according to which: "[Such an act is] an offence to human dignity and shall be condemned as a denial of the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and as a violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [and other international human rights instruments].

Article 6 Law enforcement officials shall ensure the full protection of the health of persons in their custody and, in particular, shall take immediate action to secure medical attention whenever required. A law enforcement officer's primary responsibility is to protect lives and property. All of their tasks relate back to this one responsibility. There are a wide variety of types of law enforcement officers and organizations.

Duties are performed based on the type of officer and organization. In almost all situations, law enforcement officers are expected to fulfill their responsibilities whether on or off duty.

Law enforcement officers' duties depend on the type of officer and the organization in which they work. Law enforcement officer types include:. Criminal Justice Institute This website or its third-party tools process personal data and use cookies or other identifiers, some of which are necessary for its functioning.

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Manage your cookie preferences. Criminal Justice. Basic Academies. Corrections Academy. Crossover Academy. Law Enforcement Academy. The SAPS prioritises the safety of the rural and farming communities, and continues to implement the comprehensive Rural Safety Strategy, in accordance with Chapter 12 of the NDP, which emphasises the need for all communities to be safe.

The policing and stabilising of public disorder and the responsibility to respond to medium to high-risk incidents, as well as to ensure that normal policing continues, falls under the POP units and the broader tactical environment of the NIU, the STF units, Tactical Response teams and Mobile Operations.

National Operational Coordination is responsible for developing, implementing and monitoring an integrated all of government and police specific operations, to address SAPS and Justice, Crime Prevention and Security priorities and managing major events.

The SAPS Air Wing provides air support for crime-related matters to police stations, other units and specialised forces. Call-outs include airborne assistance, in respect of armed robberies, house robberies, hijacking, vehicle theft, stock theft, game theft, serious and violent crime investigations, unrest-related incidents and crowd control, operational support to other units, as well as search and rescue incidents.

A multidisciplinary investigation team was formed to work closely with other government departments and security companies to attend to the risks and threats involved when travellers arrive or depart from the airport. The Aviation Policing Learning Programme aims to equip SAPS all members in the civil-aviation environment with the necessary skills, knowledge and capability to secure, protect and safeguard passengers, crew, ground personnel, the general public and the airport infrastructure.

The Detective Service Division is responsible for managing the activities of the Detective Service, in accordance with the mission and priorities of the SAPS and to actively implement and exercise effective control over these activities. The purpose of the Division is to enable the investigative work of the SAPS, including providing support to investigators, in terms of forensic evidence and criminal records.

The objective of the Division is the successful prosecution of offenders by investigating, gathering and analysing evidence. The detection of crime is the process that the SAPS undertakes, which extends from the time that the SAPS becomes aware of a crime and where a case docket is subsequently opened for investigation, until the time that a suspect has been arrested and charged or the case docket has been closed off as unfounded or as withdrawn before court.

This process includes the use of recognised investigative aids and the services of other divisions within the SAPS. When a person goes missing, it is of the utmost importance for the SAPS to fulfil its mandate to serve and protect the citizens of South Africa. If a missing person is found or returns voluntarily, inform the investigating officer immediately. Crime Stop provides ongoing support in the investigation, solving and prevention of crime. On receipt of tip-offs, through a toll-free number , SMS or electronic media, it is transmitted to the relevant police station for the necessary attention.

This component emanates from the FCS mandate to ensure the effective and efficient investigation of crime that emerges from identified serial FCS offenders and electronic crimes child pornography. The Forensic Social Work Services Section is responsible for rendering forensic social work support to these investigations.

It is a specialised investigation unit which was established to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in combating crimes against women and children, by means of both proactive and reactive strategies. The forensic social worker acts as a neutral independent fact-finder, who tests multiple hypotheses, through techniques that are legally defensible in court.

Violence against women and children takes many forms, including physical, sexual, economic and psychosocial, but all of these represent a violation of human dignity and human rights and have lasting consequences for women and children, as well as their communities. The reduction of serious crime remains a crucial challenge for the SAPS.

Unacceptably high levels of crime in South Africa, especially serious and violent crime, result in people of South Africa living in fear and feeling unsafe, particularly vulnerable groups such as women and children.

The DPCI mandate is to prevent, combat and investigate national priority offences, in particular serious organised crime, serious commercial crime, serious corruption and cybercrime. Serious commercial crime refers to serious fraud, forgery and uttering, theft such as the theft of trust funds , commercial crime, that is of such extent or complexity that it requires the services of a chartered accountant or other specialists or experts, during investigation and contraventions of certain statutes relating to commercial crime, including statutes relating to, among others, companies, trusts and close corporations, long and short-term insurance, the counterfeiting of currency, the counterfeiting and illicit trade in counterfeit products and goods, intellectual property rights, banks and the banking industry, exchange control, estate agents, serious corruption and cyber-related crime.

These crimes, include narcotics, theft of non-ferrous metals, theft of copper cables, dealing in abalone, money laundering, fraud, gang-related murder, wildlife trafficking, illegal trade in tobacco products, corruption, forgery, car and truck hijacking, dealing in stolen property, cultivation of hydrophobic cannabis and illegal drug production, as regulated by the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act of and the Prevention of Organised Crime Act of Serious corruption, includes the misuse of a public or private office or position or resources with a corrupt intent and may include an act of bribery, nepotism, extortion, fraud and theft.

This includes but is not limited to, offences under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act of The DPCI Serious Corruption Investigation Unit has achieved major successes in arresting officials involved in procurement fraud and corruption-related cases. Cybercrime investigation within the SAPS is evolving into a distinctive investigative discipline. The development of investigative disciplines within the SAPS, such as digital forensic investigation, online investigation, unauthorised access and intrusion investigation and open source social media investigation, are entrenched in investigative methodologies aligned to international benchmarking standards.

The legislation requires that authorised persons trained detectives may take DNA buccal samples from certain categories of persons.

The implementation of legislation such as the DNA and Fingerprint Acts, is proving to be a catalyst in linking unidentified perpetrators to criminal offences, where forensic physical material is left at the crime scene. Investigative Psychology continues to play a critical role in the linking of suspects to serial cases and ensuring related arrests, sentencing and convictions. DNA evidence and, in particular, the National Forensic DNA Database is proving to be one of the most effective investigative methods of identifying and convicting serial rapists.

This division is responsible for the gathering, collation, evaluation, analysis and coordination of intelligence. Legislative prescriptions require the SAPS to confine its intelligence activities to crime, criminal activities and securityrelated matters. The core function of Crime Intelligence is to provide intelligence to operational divisions for the use in the prevention of crime or to conduct criminal investigations and to prepare evidence for the purpose of law enforcement and the prosecution of offenders.

Crime Intelligence is a key enabler in support of both proactive and reactive policing. The Division also provided intelligence-related services such as lifestyle audits, security screening and vetting to the SAPS. Proactive intelligence products include threat and risk assessment and early warning reports.

Crime Intelligence generates early warning reports containing proactive information of an imminent threat, that is either being planned or is already emerging and requires policing intervention. The PPS division is a national competency with nine provincial offices located throughout South Africa. The division also provides protection to identified foreign dignitaries, who are visiting South Africa.

Static protection, include the provisioning of protection to the 10 parliaments the National Assembly and nine provincial legislatures. The Visible Policing Division provides direction on the effective combating of crime, through the provisioning of a visible policing service. The purpose of the division is to discourage all crime, by providing a proactive and responsive policing service, striving towards the reduction of crime levels and to instil community confidence in the SAPS.

The IPID Act of grants the IPID an extended mandate and changes the focus of the its work from a complaintsdriven organisation to one that prioritises the investigative function. The Act further places stringent obligations on the SAPS and MPS to report matters that must be investigated by the directorate and ensure the implementation of the disciplinary recommendations of the directorate. High-impact cases include, but are not limited to, corruption, systemic corruption, death while in police custody, death as a result of police action, rape by a police officer whether on or off duty, and rape while in police custody.

The directorate also investigates the occurrence of other criminal offences by the police such as assault, torture and discharge of an official firearm.

The department is required to provide, manage, prepare and employ defence capabilities that are commensurate with the needs of South Africa.