The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) said it was clamping down on the torture and murder of suspects while in police custody.
Ipid executive director Robert McBride officially launched the police watchdog's new logo at the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Services Centre in Pretoria on Wednesday.
He said suspects dying in custody has become a worrying trend that has developed in the last two years.
In KwaZulu Natal this year, three tortures and murders were reported.
McBride said no matter who you are or why you were arrested your human rights had to be respected.
He said in the ongoing efforts to fight crime and corruption, the Ipid should be seen by members of the South African Police Service and the various metro police units as an ally, "in the filtering process of the bad elements" within the police.
The Institute for Security Studies' Dr Johan Burger said the work of Ipid is extremely difficult, particularly worsened by a culture of protecting one another in the police.
- African News Agency (ANA)
