20 Jan 2015

The coordinator of the Central Police Station neighbourhood watch cluster, Sub-Inspector Tatolo Kefitile, says crime is rising at an alarming rate in their area of policing.

Sub-Inspector Kefitile who was speaking at a crime combating Pitso at Monarch Customary Court recently decried the poor  attendance, saying police could not combat crime on their own, therefore it was important for the residents to join hands with them in their quest to fight crime. 

He said of all the locations in Francistown, Monarch wasthe hardest hit by crime, stressing that crimes such as common nuisance, use of vulgar language, defilement and street robbery were on the rise in the location.  Furthermore, he also stressed that parents should instill discipline in their children in order to shape them to be responsible citizens.

He said locals collaborate with illegal immigrants to commit crime, stressing that there is high a rate of house breaking at Phase V, where gadgets such as laptops, cameras and plasma televisions are stolen and the culprits are Batswana and illegal immigrants. 

Sub-Inspector Kefitile urged residents to stop harbouring criminals and illegal immigrants, further expressing his displeasure at the high rate of drug abuse in Monarch. He observed that youth smoke marijuana and some have recently graduated to hard narcotics such as cocaine, mandrax and ecstasy.

The chairperson of Tshwaragano neighborhood watch cluster Mr Comfort Moselina decried non functionalism of cluster committees, observing that the spirit of volunteerism has declined.

Mr Moselina noted that people nowadays put incentives forward, but stated that locals are the ones who partake in criminal activities echoing the importance of collaborating with the police to fight crime.

A resident of Monarch location, Mr Tshenyego John expressed his disappointment with the police, complaining that he has reported several cases to the police in vain as the perpetrators are said to have vanished.

The meeting, which brought together stakeholders, amongst them residents of Monarch location, horse patrolling police officers and committee members from neighborhood watch clusters was aimed at sensitizing the community about the alarming rate of crimes in Francistown with specific concern about Monarch location. ENDS