27 Sep 2018

Batswana have been called upon to shun stolen goods so that thieves will be frustrated by lack of market.

Botswana Police Service’s criminal investigation officer in the No.2 district, Mr John Letsholo told a security expo in Serowe on Wednesday that criminals succeeded in the business of selling stolen goods because the market was available.

He goods stolen in his district were mostly recovered within the same policing district and therefore appealed to Batswana to take to neighbourhood watch and alert the police of suspicious activities.

Mr Letsholo said, despite interventions and warnings from the police, many Batswana and businesses still fell victim to criminals.

The crime investigator appealed to butchery owners to desist from purchasing meat from stolen animals.

He said the safety of such meat, which was not inspected, could not be ascertained and therefore had high risk of spreading diseases.

Mr Letsholo showed that burglary and theft were on the increase in his policing district, revealing that in 2016, there were 188 cases reported, 230 in 2017 and 79 cases reported from January to June this year.

On housebreaking and theft, Mr Letsholo revealed that in 2016, they recorded 255 cases, 277 in 2017 and 123 this year from January to June.

Another of the harrowing incidents was rape where, he said, recently a young man raped an 86-year-old granny.

Mr Letsholo said in 2016, the police recorded 231 rape cases, 227 in 2017 and 117 from January to June this year.

The investigating officer bemoaned that at times victims of rape lost their lives whilst battling with perpetrators, though he could not confirm whether victims were killed before or after the ordeal.

It was after these revelations that gender affairs officer, Ms Seanokeng Kanokang called on men to be frontrunners in the fight against gender based violence.

Ms Kanokang said statistics showed that men led in the perpetration of violence, whilst women and children were major victims.

She appealed to police officers to be hospitable to men who reported acts of abuse by their partners. As a result, she appealed to departments and offices that graced the expo, to devise plans of action on combating gender based violence ahead of the 16 days of activism against violence on women and children.

For his part, Serowe police station commander, Superintendent Patrick Molefhe called for involvement of stakeholders in combating crime in the district.

He advised business owners to engage the services of security companies in order to reduce chances of being hit by robbers.

Mr Molefhe said it was critical to appreciate that security of property and goods was imperative before people could realise the need to engage security services.

He said it was also imperative to have meetings where issues of security could be discussed in order to provide ammunition against crime to all because as he put it, ‘criminals like death are unpredictable yet inevitable’. ENDS