"Drunk" Pietermaritzburg cop under investigation
A Mountain Rise constable has been put on desk duty after a video clip - purportedly showing him drunk, while responding to a complaint - surfaced online recently.
In the clip, the uniformed officer is seen slurring and swaying in the front seat of his police car. He eventually stumbles out of the vehicle but appears to have trouble standing.
Police spokesperson Jay Naicker says their investigations so far indicate he was responding to a complaint on Copesville Drive - in the early hours of the morning of October 14th - and that when he arrived, the complainants noticed he appeared drunk.
“The incident was immediately brought to the attention of his commander who booked him off duty and reported his conduct to the station commander. Both he and the constable who was driving him on that day are under investigation. Although the driver was sober, the fact that he failed to act against his colleague is also viewed as serious misconduct and a senior officer has been appointed to investigate the matter. The constable in the video has been restricted to desk duties and his firearm was removed whilst he is under investigation,” Naicker says,
“We wish to thank members of the public that blow the whistle on corruption and misconduct within the ranks of the SAPS. We view such behavior in a very serious light and will always act against errant police officers as we believe that we need police officers of the highest caliber to deliver on our mandate”.