02 Jul 2014

Tutume police station commander, Superintendent Jerry Halahala, says the public is not doing enough to assist the police with their investigations even when they know who the culprits are.

Supt Halahala, who was addressing a workshop on the impact of illegal immigrants in the Tutume area recently, said the community’s lack of support belied their usual complaints that crime in the area was high. 

He said crimes such as murder, house breaking, and defilement were mostly committed by illegal immigrants well known to victims because they worked in their families.

He expressed shock that police volunteers meant to assist the police were being subjected to abuse by some community members who undermine them during their routine patrols and raids.

Supt Halahala noted that they had since realised that people who objected to volunteers’ patrols obviously had something to hide in their homes.

He noted that illegal immigrant culprits led some kind of nomadic life because whenever they had committed crime they would disappear, making it difficult for the police to conduct any effective investigations.

As such, criminals often went unpunished, thus putting the police’s effectiveness and image into question, he said, adding that the public’s role and effectiveness in fighting crime should equally be examined. 

The station commander urged workshop attendants, amongst them Village Development Committees and dikgosi, to assist them in spreading awareness messages on crime prevention and to sensitise the public on the importance of whistle bowling.

Sharing police sentiments, Kgosi Buendasi Mbenga, of Goshwe village said it was about time that people in the area understood that they were part of the problem leading to high crime rates in their area. 

Kgosi Mbenga said, instead of officially reporting to their dikgosi the arrival of a stranger, people tended to claim that the stranger was their long lost relative only to change the story when things had gone wrong. 

“Take responsibility for your actions instead of blaming the police,” he advised, adding that some people still viewed the police as enemies instead of law enforcers meant to protect them. 

The workshop was held under the theme ‘Broadening community participation in community policing, key to safe and secure nation by the year 2016’. ENDS