25 Nov 2018

Deputy Commissioner of Botswana Police Service - Operations, Ms Diana Marathe has commended District No.14 cluster for scooping the minister’s award for excellence in community policing.

The coveted award comprised a certificate, trophy and P10 000 worth of prize money.

Officiating during District No.14 cluster policing awards celebrations in Kanye recently, Ms Marathe said their success was a result of hard work and spirit of teamwork from members and strategic stakeholders.

The deputy commissioner explained that the district had accomplished set targets with active participation of the community and partners.

She said the district has also showcased best strategies to combat crime. When she quantified the achievement, she said the district had reduced crime by 51.7 per cent in offences such as house breaking, robberies and burglary.

She said road traffic incidents have also been reduced from 907 in 2017 to 889, while fatal crashes were reduced by 84 per cent.

Ms Marathe was particularly pleased that the district powered through day to day operational challenges they encountered in their policing area to achieve the feat. She further shared that from 2014 to 2017, they also garnered 93 awards in 196 appearances.

She however advised the district to review their strategies periodically to ensure the targets they set themselves remained realistic and practical, urging the officers to remain committed and focused.

The deputy commissioner also thanked dikgosi for their relentless contribution towards fighting crime and the community for its active involvement and kind response to the cause.

For his part, Kgosi Kwelagobe Mookodi also encouraged the cluster not to be complacent, but to keep coming up with novel strategies to curb crime.

Kgosi Mookodi, who was among the judges at national level, explained that the awards were given to clusters, which had excelled in mobilising the community through a number of strategies to address crime.

To this end, he encouraged them to follow, read, understand the format and guidelines given to them and not concentrate on small offences just to score more points.

District No.14 executive committee vice chairperson, Mr Abram Kelatile said they excelled because they worked hand in hand with dikgosi and members of the community with a view to getting to the bottom of criminal activities, which were on the rise.

Mr Kelatile shared that more is yet to be done, adding that their efforts were undermined by challenges such as home brewed beverages and shortage of transport.

In the category of best practice award, Moshupa Police Station got position one with four clusters and walked away with a certificate and P2 500, Sejelo Police Station got position two also with four clusters while position three went to Jwaneng Police Station with five clusters and they walked away with certificates, P2 000 and P1 500 respectively.

For the community commitment award category, Sejelo Police Station scooped position one with two clusters, followed by Phitshane Molopo Police Station with five clusters, while Moshupa Police Station got position three with four clusters and walked away with certificates, P2 000, P1 500 and P1 000 respectively.

In the best station award, Moshupa and Sejelo police stations shared position two with nine clusters and each walked away with a certificate, a trophy and P4 000. Ends