SA Police Service Website Hacked

With some disastrous consequences:

Nearly 16 000 whistle-blowers have had their personal details published online after a cyberattack on the SAPS website.

Hundreds of police officers’ names, ranks and contact details were also uploaded by the hacker, who said the attack was in retaliation for the Marikana shootings.

The hacker appeared to have performed a data dump last Friday when complainants’ details were downloaded from the SAPS website’s e-mail server and uploaded on to another site.

Many of the 15 767 e-mails were detailed with incidents of crimes such as rape, murder and robbery, as well as the names and contact details of the whistle-blowers.

The hacker took to social media to claim the online attack.

“South African Police saps.gov.za e-mails Leaked… #OpMarikanaMiners We Did Not Forget #Anonymous,” tweeted @DomainerAnon.

His profile picture is a man wearing a mask, similar to that used by the anarchist character “V” in the film V for Vendetta. He says he is from “OZ (Australia) but currently on walkabouts”.

The mask is based on the face of Guy Fawkes, the best-known member of the gang of men who tried to blow up the House of Lords in London in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

Above the list of the officers’ details, a message reads: “The reason for this action is to serve as a reminder to the government regarding the murders of 34 protesting miners outside the Marikana platinum mine by police. To date no officers have been brought to justice… This situation will NOT be tolerated.”

By 8am on Wednesday, the data had been downloaded 330 times.

“I’m very worried about this,” one of the whistle-blowers told The Star, on condition of anonymity.

He had sent an e-mail to the police saying that the police were not properly investigating the rape of a 14-year-old girl in KZN.

He said he was still in the dark about the investigation.

National police spokesman Brigadier Phuti Setati said this morning that there would be a media briefing at 1pm today.

“This is absolutely unacceptable,” said Dr Johan Burger, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies.

He said it was a “huge breach of police security systems” and could have serious ramifications for whistle-blowers if the information fell into the hands of criminals…

 

Another Police Officer Killed

In Hout Bay, Cape Town:

A police officer had been shot dead and another injured in Hout Bay, Western Cape police said on Saturday.

“A 26-year-old female constable died on the scene while her 27-year-old colleague was seriously injured in the incident,” provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Arno Lamoer said.

The constables, aged 26 and 27, were on duty in Imizamo Yethu, Hout Bay on Friday night when they were shot. – Sapa

A 26 year-old female…

RIP

The Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille has condemned the attack on the two officers.

 

Cape Town Metro Policeman Killed

EWN:

CAPE TOWN – Mayor Patricia de Lille on Thursday visited the family of a metro police officer who was gunned down in Khayelitsha on Wednesday – the day of his wife’s birthday.

Mpumelelo Xakekile was shot at by two men at the intersection of Mew Way and Lansdowne Road while issuing a fine to minibus taxi driver.

A chaplain said a prayer in the victim’s Mandalay home as his wife wiped away tears from her puffy red eyes.

De Lille told her in a low voice that she had come to show support to the family.

De Lille has offered a R50,000 reward to anyone with information that might lead to the arrest of Xakekile’s killers.
“It is a sad day for the city and we are forced to ask what has gone wrong in our society.”

The police officer has been described as a good man who was passionate about his job.

I was the Chaplain (mentioned above). A tragic situation. We were on scene last night. Do spare a prayer for the bereaved.

* Anyone with information can contact the nearest police station, and ask for Captain Arte Bavuma on 082 469 1532, Crime Stop anonymously on 0860 010 111 or SMS Crimeline anonymously on 32211.

More here.

 

Why British Police Don’t Have Guns

The deaths of two female police constables have brought into focus the unarmed status of most British police. Why does Britain hold firm against issuing guns to officers on the beat?

It’s the single most obvious feature that sets the British bobby apart from their counterparts overseas.

Read on here.

 

A Midnight Mass Brawl

Chairs fly and punches thrown as all hell breaks loose among 400-strong congregation.

It has to be: The Daily Mail.

A priest today described how he feared parishioners’ lives were in danger when a fight broke out in his church during midnight mass on Christmas Eve.

Monsignor Vincent Harvey said heavy chairs were thrown down an aisle at St Edmund’s Church, Southampton, during the fight in the middle of the service on Saturday night.

Police patrol cars and an ambulance raced to the historic church on The Avenue, Southampton, as other members of the congregation tried to break up the fight.

The priest managed to continue the mass to his shocked but uninjured congregation after police arrived to arrest those involved.

‘You often expect some drunken behaviour at the Christmas Midnight Mass but this was actually quite shocking,’ said Father Vincent Harvey.

‘But then about three or four minutes later, there were scuffles going on. Then it was obvious it was more than just a scuffle, there was actually a fight going on.’

‘I had to halt the Mass because the congregation were in considerable danger as chairs were being hurled down the aisle. Some of them were made of steel and could easily have injured people in the pews.’

He continued: ‘The person involved started throwing fairly heavy chairs down a side aisle, endangering people’s lives.

‘People were frightened that it was happening. If they’d hit anybody they could have been badly injured’…

‘Some of the congregation were worried about the statues in the church getting smashed but I told them not to be concerned about those, just to make sure they didn’t get injured themselves’…

Read more here.

The priest said: ‘I just asked people for a bit of silence so we could recollect ourselves and to pray for the person involved.

‘My sermon had been about how we are broken people, fragile people, and I said he is one of the very people I’m talking about.’

Ah, yes, Southampton…

 

Police Car and Officer Hit: Caught on Dashcam

Police in Surrey, England near London released dramatic dashcam video showing a BMW crashing into a police car, then hitting a barrier. The driver was later caught after a foot chase.

The Policeman is very fortunate to be alive.

Israel: Senseless No-go Zones

It is an absurd situation when our men in blue cannot enter certain haredi and Arab neighborhoods because of extreme violence they encounter.

The Jerusalem Post has more:

A police representative announced in court last month that Jerusalem’s Mea She’arim neighborhood has become a no-go zone for the men in blue. Every time police enter, the official explained, they encounter violence from haredi extremists. And that is why they failed to arrest a criminal suspect for over a month despite knowing exactly where in the neighborhood he was.

Nor is Mea She’arim the only place where police face such problems. Many Arab towns and neighborhoods have similarly been declared no-go zones because police operations there routinely spark violence. Jewish extremists in the West Bank seem to be trying to gain the settlements such status as well: They regularly attack soldiers and policemen enforcing the planning and building laws.

But the police’s decision to deal with this problem by simply throwing up their hands and staying away is unconscionable. First, it’s a betrayal of the very people they are sworn to protect – the decent, law-abiding citizens who comprise the vast majority of residents in all of these locales. As Kalansua Mayor Mahmoud Hadija complained in October after his brother was killed, criminals “know that whatever they do, the police won’t investigate,” leaving ordinary citizens defenseless against them.

Moreover, by proving that violence works, this response merely encourages other groups of extremists to adopt the same tactic. As a result, more and more of the country is becoming a no-go zone…

Read on here.

Not a great way of maintaining law and order…

Hundreds of Rampaging Palestinians Attack Israeli Settlement, Torch Jewish Holy Books…

Could you imagine what would happen if Jews were to burn the Quran? But naturally, they don’t…

Some 200 Palestinians armed with bats and iron chains raided the illegal West Bank outpost of Gaon HaYarden Friday and burned Jewish holy books at the site, the settlers said.

The Arab attackers clashed with Jewish youths at the outposts before torching a hut and a tent that included a prayer corner and holy books. Security forces rushed to the scene and broke up the violence.

The Palestinians arrived at the outpost in dozens of vehicles and razed it. A leading member of the Jewish Hilltop Youth movement vowed to rebuild the outpost after the Shabbat.

“There were a few youths at the site when some 150 to 200 Palestinians carrying PLO flags and armed with bats and iron chains raided it,” an outpost resident told Ynet. “We managed to escape unharmed.”…

HT

Israeli Police and Palestinians Clash at Jerusalem Holy Site

Yahoo.com News reports on an unfolding volatile situation in Jerusalem today:

Jerusalem – Israeli police say policemen have entered a sensitive Jerusalem holy site to disperse Palestinian protesters who were hurling stones.

The scene of Friday’s violence was the Old City compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

Israeli spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says police entered the compound after Palestinians began lobbing stones at security forces stationed outside one of the gates. He says police used stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

Rosenfeld says no one was injured and that order was quickly restored.

The holy compound is one of the most combustible sites on earth, and clashes there in the past have ignited broader violence.

A Muslim clerical body runs the compound under Israel’s overall security control.

And also today: Israeli police enter Al-Aqsa mosque compound…

Israeli police briefly entered the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound after Friday prayers and fired tear gas towards stone-throwing youths, police and mosque officials said.

“After prayers some of the Arab youths started throwing stones,” a Jerusalem police spokeswoman said. “There were no injuries but when the stone throwing continued, police and border police entered the mosque compound to disperse the youths before leaving.”

Police fired tear gas and one person was arrested, she said.

A spokesman for the Islamic authorities that run the mosque said one or two youths had been throwing stones, but the incident ended quickly.

The sprawling mosque compound contains the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock and is the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina.

It is also the holiest site in Judaism because it was the location of the Second Temple, razed by the Romans in 70 AD.

SA Police Services Chief Likens Police Force to Jesus and His 12 Apostles

Times Live reports on police chief Bheki Cele recent comments:

He said that if even Jesus and God had criminals in their midst, it was to be expected that there would be criminals in the 193,000-strong police force, Beeld newspaper reported on Saturday.

“Jesus Christ had an organisation of 12 people… among those 12 there was a criminal who sat with Jesus every day,” Cele was quoted as saying at a police cars handover ceremony in Pretoria on Friday.

“Even when Jesus berated him [Judas], he denied that it was him who was a criminal.

“In the Garden of Eden, there were two people. God himself did an inspection every morning. One day, He could not find them. They were hiding, because they had committed a crime,” he said.

“If you will find criminals amongst two people, then you will find criminals in an organisation with 193,000 members,” Cele said.

Beeld said that in the past seven months, some 254 police members in Gauteng were arrested for alleged involvement in robberies and corruption.

Top cop Richard Mdluli and several of his colleagues were arrested this week for their alleged involvement in a murder that was committed in the late 1990s.

This is not the first biblical comparison used in SA politics.

President Jacob Zuma was criticised a few years ago for saying the African National Congress will rule until Jesus comes.

In 2008, a provincial ANC leader likened Zuma’s suffering in the then corruption case against him to what Jesus had gone through.