Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri has said the use of spikes at roadblocks is a necessary defence for traffic police officers who risk being run over by unruly motorists amid claims that at least 36 officers were either killed or injured on the country’s roads last year.

Dr Chihuri said the practice was not exclusive to the Zimbabwe Republic Police. He was responding to an application by human rights activist Mr Okay Machisa to have the use of spikes to deflate vehicles at roadblocks declared unconstitutional.

Comm-Gen Chihuri said the practice was justified and was supported by a section of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, which provides for the use of minimum force. The police chief said spikes were used cautiously and only in extreme cases.

The use of spikes, according to Comm-Gen Chihuri, was an effective traffic enforcement method internationally and in Zimbabwe it is governed by police reference and source books used in police training and police operations.

Last month Zimbabwe Human Rights Association director Mr Machisa filed an application at the High Court challenging the constitutionality of police using spikes at roadblocks, saying the practice had the potential of damaging property, injuring or killing people.