This article examines police brutality in the light of violent service delivery protests within the context of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) in the Eastern Cape. This municipality is selected, primarily, because protests in the NMBM are caused by a lack of, or the slow pace of service delivery, corruption and cadre deployment, and because they are characterised by violence. This article employs a qualitative literature assessment method. The researchers examine the issue in question through the theoretical lens of human needs theory. The main argument of this article is that police officers are not sufficiently trained in crowd management techniques to manage protests at the local government level. Against this background, the confrontations that take place between protesters and the police frequently result in bloodshed, looting, throwing of stones, burning of tyres, and the use of tear gas and stun grenades. Moreover,