15 Apr 2013

A senior police officer has called on people in the Kanye police district to join hands in the fight against crime.

Speaking during a crime prevention meeting in Kanye recently, Senior Superintendent Constantine Matlho said his police district had a high number of youth who were involved in crime. The Kanye district, also known as District No. 14 in police parlance, comprises Kanye, Sejelo, Jwaneng, Phitshane Molopo, Moshupa and Mabutsane.

Senior Supt Matlho said statistics showed that youth aged between 18 and 35 were involved in 2 960 acts of crime last year. He said the situation challenged his office to devise ways of combating crime in which young Batswana were either perpetrators or victims.

He warned that by committing crime, young people jeopardised their employment prospects because employers wanted trustworthy people who did not have criminal records.

He asked government departments, non-government organisations and other stakeholders to join the collective efforts of fighting crime, particularly among the youth.

Immigration officer in Kanye, Ms Janet Gaorongwe, said it was good to educate youth in schools and other institutions, to show them the consequences of involvement in crime.

Another speaker, Supt William Toto of the Botswana prisons service in Kanye, said counselling and other efforts to talk to imprisoned youth would reduce the rate at which crime was growing. ENDS