April edition of Car and Driver magazine have a very interesting article about South African police and especially the anti car-jacking unit.
I have no website to enter because C&D website did not carry the article (at least not yet).
The police carry a variant of the AK47 called an R5 along with 9MM handguns. And they need them. Car-jacking in South Africa is rampant and it is pretty much open warfare between the car-jackers and the police.
In Johannesburg alone, as when the article was written (about Sept. 2002) 37 policemen had been killed. One photograph in the police HQ showed eight policemen at a simulated crime scene. Of the eight only two are still alive. Six others died on duty.
One policeman interviewed estimates he has been shot at about 10 times. Heavy duty body armor is absolutely necessary. This unit drives BMWs. One policemen estimates that 40% of the cars he tries to pull over run for it.
According to the article, just about every car they pull over, there is at least one gun found, most of them legal because gun licenses are very common. Odds of getting car jacked in South Africa a 18 times greater than the USA.
Article described a high speed car chase (up to 155 MPH) in which the policeman emptied a 30 round magazine on the perp who was hit twice and died in the subsequent car wreck.
The NRA had a program on TV a few years ago about South Africa. From around 1994 to 1999, 1200 South African police had been murdered, mostly for their guns.
Fascinating article. Makes you appreciate more living in the USA.
I have no website to enter because C&D website did not carry the article (at least not yet).
The police carry a variant of the AK47 called an R5 along with 9MM handguns. And they need them. Car-jacking in South Africa is rampant and it is pretty much open warfare between the car-jackers and the police.
In Johannesburg alone, as when the article was written (about Sept. 2002) 37 policemen had been killed. One photograph in the police HQ showed eight policemen at a simulated crime scene. Of the eight only two are still alive. Six others died on duty.
One policeman interviewed estimates he has been shot at about 10 times. Heavy duty body armor is absolutely necessary. This unit drives BMWs. One policemen estimates that 40% of the cars he tries to pull over run for it.
According to the article, just about every car they pull over, there is at least one gun found, most of them legal because gun licenses are very common. Odds of getting car jacked in South Africa a 18 times greater than the USA.
Article described a high speed car chase (up to 155 MPH) in which the policeman emptied a 30 round magazine on the perp who was hit twice and died in the subsequent car wreck.
The NRA had a program on TV a few years ago about South Africa. From around 1994 to 1999, 1200 South African police had been murdered, mostly for their guns.
Fascinating article. Makes you appreciate more living in the USA.
