In 1986 the South African Police and the South African Railways Police amalgamated as it was believed that South Africa only needed one police force. The result thereof was that a decision had to be made about the special task force as the S.A. Police had their own Special Task Force. They were more rural (bush) orientated whereas the S.A.R.P. Special Task Force was an urban based unit with specific responsibilities. Heated negotiations took place on how the unit was going to be accommodated and a decision was made that they had to do the S.A. Police Task Force selection as they felt that they were not on the same standard as them. This decision was met with disbelieve and shock as the SARP Special Task Force were trained in aircraft anti-hijacking, bus operations, train operations and other specialised fields and the concern was that this expertise might be lost. The SARP Special Task Force had a collective knowledge base and training material of the highest standard and all their operators have completed basic and advanced task force courses and were regarded as highly qualified operators. Captain Dinky Boucher was the commanding officer of the task force at that stage and was assisted by Lieutenants Hein Crocker and Johan Nel and the unit was about 50 men strong. Some members opted out before the unit had to report for selection as they were not willing to be humiliated. The entire unit were demoralised but eventually agreed to do the selection. It was very clear from the onset that the instructors from the S.A. Police Task Force were out to humiliate them and focused specifically on the command structure. They were treated like student constables, and it seems as if the intention was to embarrass and humiliate them. On the second day of selection Captain Boucher and Lieutenant Crocker decided to withdraw from selection and the entire group, with the exception of two members, decided to join them. For almost a year the unit was not utilised for any policing, and it was decided to close down their base and most of the men were transferred to the then Jan Smuts Airport. Some of the men resigned from the police and some took transfers to other units and stations. One of the senior members wrote a letter to the State Security Council expressing the concern of the expertise that was lost and the inability of the S.A. Police Task Force to fulfil some of the specialised tasks, specifically aircraft operations. This resulted in Captain Boucher and Lieutenant Crocker being summoned to Police Headquarters where General Bert Wandrag showed the letter to them with the threat that whoever wrote the letter would be exposed and charged. Needless to say, that never happened. During the course of 1989 the task force was officially disbanded, and the once highly trained men became ordinary policemen. It was a sad moment in the history of South Africa.