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US police train South African officers on drugs and gangs | US police train South African officers on drugs and gangs |
(about 1 hour later) | |
JOHANNESBURG — Cape Town police are being trained by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on how to make split-second decisions when fighting the high rate of drug- and gang-related crime in the South African city, a city official said Friday. | |
As part of a simulation training program for South African police conducted by the DEA, officers were shown a video clip of a potentially deadly scenario involving an armed assailant using a passer-by as a human shield, alderman J. P. Smith told The Associated Press. | |
Officers are immersed in these situations, using training weapons that fire harmless laser pointers to teach them when to use lethal force, Smith said. The simulated scenario escalates or deescalates, depending on the trainee officers’ reactions. Officers are also trained how to gather intelligence from informants. | |
Dozens of police officers have been attacked in the city because they did not know when to use lethal force, said Smith, who oversees safety and security in the mayor’s office. Stopping and approaching a vehicle has proven most dangerous for Cape Town police, he said. | |
“You are expected to make life and death decisions...in a split-second,” said Smith. “The consequences of which will live with you forever and you have no do-overs.” | |
Officers from various U.S. police departments, including New York City, Los Angeles and Miami, have trained many of the city’s police, including the specialized Gang and Drug Task Team, Smith said. Cape Town has seen the number of arrests for drug- and gang-related crimes increase to 2,800 arrests last year, he said. | |
From April to September last year, 60 South African police officers were killed, 27 of them while on duty, the police minister said in a speech to parliament. | |
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Follow Lynsey Chutel on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lynseychutel . | |
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
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