02 May 2017

There is need for concerted efforts in  the  fight against crime. Commissioner of Police, Mr Keabetswe Makgophe said this when giving welcome remarks at the 7th National Cluster Policing Awards in Selebi Phikwe recently.

Mr Makgophe said the introduction of clusters to the policing agenda in 2008 had transformed community policing into a more manageable affair that promotes partnerships and proactive problem solving through the involvement of different participants such as government, private sector and citizenry at local settings.

He noted the important role that clusters continued to play in the deterrence and reduction of crime, especially in violent and intrusive crimes such as house breaking, burglary, store breaking and robberies, which are major threat to personal safety and security.

“In this connection, we have seen a gradual reduction in these crimes from 18 947 cases reported in 2009 to 8 838 cases in 2016. This is indeed a huge achievement which cluster policing has played,” he said.

He said as a way to appreciate the efforts and contribution of policing clusters in advancing the community policing agenda, Botswana Police Service introduced cluster awards.

The awards recognise the commitment and excellence in community policing as well as enhance the morale, capacity and efficiency of policing clusters.

He explained that this year 230 clusters were recognised for their effort in combating crime as compared to 160 in 2016.

This is out of a total of 652 active clusters nationally.

Mr Makgophe further gave an overview of the crime situation for the year 2016 as compared to 2015, noting that during 2016, Penal Code offences recorded a two per cent over all reduction.

He said violent and intrusive crimes were reduced by three per cent while other serious offences, which include theft of motor vehicle and stock theft went down by four per cent.

He said robbery was significantly reduced by 12 per cent.

“We are however concerned with the level of violence associated with the commission of this crime,” he said.

The Police commissioner also said that murder and threat to kill on the other hand went up by 10 per cent and two per cent respectively.

“These crimes, especially murder, are common at cattle posts and drinking places, mostly as a result of misunderstandings and conflicts associated with drinking or intimate relationships,” he said.

He also mentioned there has been an increase in violence and ruthlessness in the commission of some of the murder incidents such as the use of sharp instruments even to an extent of beheading the victims including helpless infants.

“To us, this is a sign of deep rooted societal problems that need concerted and calculated efforts by all stakeholders to stop this totally inconceivable behaviour and indiscriminate deprivation of the right to life,” he said.

He said Botswana Police Service officers met in February during their annual conference and resolved to a rigorous strategy that combines public education and multi sectoral approach beyond law enforcement in addressing these crimes.

“We have seen these crimes (murder and threat to kill) comparatively going down by 25 and 18 per cent respectively during the first three months of 2017. Our reinforced efforts and positive results in this regard should be appreciated,” he said.

The Police Commissioner further said that the increasing consumption of and dealing in drugs, especially dagga, cocaine and methcatinone among the youth mostly was another area of concern that needed to be rigorously addressed.

He said the police and other law enforcement agencies continued to make significant seizures both inland and ports of entry into the country.

“A total of 1053.4 kilograms of dagga was seized, resulting in 915 arrests in 2016 as compared to 253 kilograms and 777 arrests in 2015,” he said, noting that more still needed to be done to combat the problem.

The awards were held under the theme; Towards Safer and Secure Communities and were graced bythe Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Shaw Kgathi, among other senior government officials.ENDS