Less than 24 hours after a police officer died in hospital after being shot by gunmen, another officer was injured by an alleged gunman and is now in hospital.

Since the start of the year, five police officers have been murdered and from the looks of things, it may get much worse. These killings represent nothing less than a total disregard for law and order and when it gets to the level where gunmen are leaving a victim's head at the gate of a police station, we know that the situation is untenable

Bleack future

We should be worried. If the people that are trained to protect us are falling like flies, our future does not look promising. We generally expect police officers to be brave and fearless, but at the rate things are going, there are probably only a few brave and fearless ones left. The rest may be scared for their lives and that would be understandable. They have come to learn that they should take nothing for granted, be very aware of their surroundings and trust very few people. Deviating from these simple rules could result in their deaths.

Those who have family members and friends in the police force must cringe whenever they hear news about a slain police officer. They know that their friend or brother could be next and this could not possibly be a comforting feeling.

In order to feel secure and to restore our full confidence in the police force, we need to be assured that proper plans are in place to tackle crime. If the authorities are seemingly failing to protect their own, do the citizens even stand a chance?