SAPS trained to fight crime with Kung-Fu skills
(People's Daily Online) Sissy Zhang 2016-02-09 12:02
Bare-handed Defence & Control
Have you ever imagined the tricks performed by Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan in Chinese Kung-Fu movies displayed by South African police officers? Yes, with the Training Course of Police Use of Force Instructors for South Africa Police Service (SAPS), and the Training Course of Chinese Kung-Fu for Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD), this might turn into a reality.
“We expect the new skills to be used by our officers are out there when trying to apprehend criminals,” said Ugeshni Naidoo, Deputy Chief of EMPD, “For us, it is also the beginning of a partnership with Chinese police.”
The three month program, which started in July, was the very first Kung-Fu training between Chinese police and SA police, helping the South Africans to obtain basic martial art skills.
Enjoying popularity among local officers, Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS) dispatched a team of instructors from Fujian Police College in November for a one-month training for 13 senior police instructors from different academies of SAPS. The course consisting of three main subjects, focused on bare-handed Defence & Control, Use of Police Equipment and Operational Tactics. In trying to display the concept of police law enforcement in China, the programme introduced the standard of training Chinese police, enhance the trainees’ teaching abilities and helped increase and strengthen bilateral law enforcement.
The Chinese team incorporated Kung-Fu elements into police law enforce operations during the training, introducing Chinese advanced concepts of law enforcement and training approaches in every session. Overwhelmed by the practical techniques and masterly demonstration, local officers showed great interest in the course, showed a lot of enthusiasm during training, complaining that the course was too short and hoping they could obtain further skills from their instructors.
Professor Zhang Bing, the director of the Chinese instructors team, congratulated the thirteen SAPS instructors at the graduation ceremony that was held in early December. He commented, “After one month’s great effort, all of you are to be granted a qualification certificate of Police Use of Force Instructors Program, which on one hand, is a result of your hard work, and where our honor lies on the other hand.”
Use of Police Equipment
As a leading Chinese academy in teaching and training of police in the use of force, Fujian Police College has held many workshops for South African police officers. It selected four of its most senior police instructors with international reputation and experience in training foreign police officers.
“Police officers are responsible for attacking crime and it requires lots of competence to achieve this.” said Zhang Bing, “As police instructors in the use of force, we have our responsibilities to pass on our knowledge and skills to our students, equip them with professional abilities in order to realize our wish of safe law enforcement, and their safe return to their own families.”
Colonel Raphathela from SAPS called for more training and said to his Chinese counterparts, “It is our hope that you will host more of our trainers to learn this valuable skill in your country and your policing environment.”
The MPS has since invited seven EMPD officers and eight TMPD officers to visit China to receive training on criminal investigation this year..
Mr Wang Zhigang, the Police Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in SA revealed that, MPS had already invited three to four groups of approximately eighty SAPS officers to visit China yearly since 2013, whereby, they received training in criminal investigation, community policing and other technics. He concluded by saying, “it has happened on an annual basis and we will do it every year.”
