Buhle’s team recently visited the community of KaMkhweli to hold a training workshop with community police. Given the community’s rural location, Buhle’s team was expecting the participants to be less receptive and less interested. Despite this, the team was shocked at the participants’ indifference and disinterest. However, as more community police arrived, the attitude of the group began to change and the participants provided more open and detailed responses to questions asked of them. Even though the participants became more involved, Buhle’s team faced difficulties when the topic turned to excessive use of force on suspects. The participants stated that they did not engage in forceful tactics and merely followed the law when arresting suspect. Any further attempts of Buhle’s team to gather more information on the topic proved to be futile.

Despite these initial setbacks, the workshop concluded on a more positive note. The participants seemed to have an understanding of the legal process; however, Buhle’s team provided a refresher course on the subjects of private arrest, admissibility of evidence and presumption of innocence. By the end of the workshop, the participants started to relax and engage Buhle’s team in discussion. Through their discussion with the participants, Buhle’s team learned that the community police maintain a friendly relationship with the area station commander, which the team has found is not common in many of the communities they have visited.