Coetzee joined the police on 10 May 1946 in
Pretoria at the age of 16. He started his career in the Mounted Police, including as a member of the SA Police Royal Mounted Escort during the 1947 Royal visit to South Africa. Much of his career was spent in the Security Branch, where he co-ordinated the infiltration of anti-
apartheid groups such as the
South African Communist Party. While he was Commissioner, the South African Railway Police merged with the SA Police, a full-fledged Forensics branch was established and the SAP got a helicopter fleet. in Pretoria in 1981. • • • • • ==Truth and Reconciliation Commission==