Speaking at a lunch organised by the Takatokwane police staff for the elderly people on December 19, Mr Mautle said the gesture by the officers would give the entire Botswana Police Service a good image.

“As the police we should not only be concerned by our core mandate of fighting crime, but by other basic needs in the societies that we operate in. Hunger and lack of happiness among our communities is surely one of a few issues that we should be concerned about,” he said.

Mr Mautle urged the organisers to consider giving the initiative a wider publicity next time so that other officers can emulate them. For his part, the Deputy District Commissioner for Letlhakeng Sub District, Mr George Mogome said despite the event being modest, it should rather be measured with the amount of love and care the officers showed.

He also advised that children should desist from the tendency of only showing their parents love and compassion when they are dead, but should rather do so when they are still alive so that they can appreciate.

“We must know at this stage that love without deeds is not true love. We are hopeful that such an activity will endear the police to the local community and nurture the existing relationship between the two,” he said.

He said building a positive association with the community can in turn make the police’s job of fighting crime easier as people will be free to open up to them in reporting crime.

Mr Mogome also said the activity has come at the right time as children are the only ones that are often showered with presents. He also advised the organisers to make the event an annual one and solicit more help from good Samaritans to make it bigger.

For his part, the Letlhakeng Sub District Council chairman, Cllr Tlotlo Batlhophi advised children to take care of their parents, saying in most cases ailments associated with old age such as high blood pressure and diabetes are exacerbated when parents are stressed by the misdeeds of their children.

He said the practice where the youth are synonymous with bad habits such as alcohol abuse and fighting should be addressed by village elders to help them reform.

Mr Batlhophi also urged parents to learn to talk to their wayward children and desist from shielding them from the police. ENDS