The commander of the Lyttelton police station in Centurion will meet with Carien Coelho after she shared a video on social media this week showing how members of the station pull her down late at night.
The video briefly follows another video showing how Kymie du Toit, a kindergarten teacher, was pulled out of her car at a petrol station in Moreleta Park on November 26 at 11:25 pm by officials of the Tshwane metro police. they handcuffed her and stopped in a marked metro police van.
The video has made huge headlines and sparked sharp criticism of metro police members’ actions.
In the latest incident, a video was shared in which the altercation between Coelho, who was on the way home with her young children late last night after a movie, was captured. Coelho was ordered by police to stop in Centurion at about 23:00. She turned on her emergency lights and significantly reduced her speed as she drove to the nearest gas station.
The officers followed her until there and at the gas station, one of the officers asked if she was “satisfied” that she had stopped there.
She urged the officers to be allowed to stop at the gas station, after which one of them asked her to respect the law. He also says he respects her decision to stop there.
Coelho continuously asks the officers why she was pulled down and tells them that she has already been hijacked three times. She also tells them that they upset her children and offers to show them her driver’s license.
Later in the background you can hear one of the children sob.
One of the officers then tells Coelho that she needs to change her attitude and that she can be shot if she does not stop in the future when instructed to do so.
The video again attracted great comment. Many people have indicated on social media that they are too scared at night to stop when the police, or those posing as police officers, order them to do so.
Brig. Lyttelton police station commander TP Matlala confirmed that the police are attached to the police station. He said no complaint was made against the members concerned.
Matlala said he was already in touch with Coelho personally and that they would soon meet at the station to discuss the incident.
“My members did their job and she acted right by driving to a safe place. The police also allowed her to do so, ”Matlala said.
“I think communication in this case is extremely important, it is crucial.”
‘Blue-light protocol’
Justice Project SA (JPSA) had earlier announced its withdrawal of the so-called Blue Light Protocol, which it developed in 2013 in collaboration with the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC).
The protocol was developed at the time to help curb the wave of incidents where criminals used blue lights on their vehicles to target unsuspecting motorists.
One of the guidelines in the protocol was that motorists show the police that they understand the command to stop, for example by switching on their emergency lights, and then slowly driving to a safe place and stopping there.
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