04 Nov 2013

There has been a cumulative 16 per cent reduction in serious crime, violent and intrusive crime with reductions in all offences except stock theft and rape.

Presenting the State-of-the-Nation Address on November 4, President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama stated that  comparing the first half of 2013 with 2012,  significant reductions were recorded in offences such as store break-ins which decreased by 10 per cent , house break-ins by 22per cent , burglaries by 25 per cent and robberies by 28 per cent.

“The ever changing environment in the policing landscape presents new challenges such as the growing sophistication of violent, serious and intrusive, transnational, organized and cyber-crimes. Many Batswana are also falling prey to online as well as more conventional conmen. In response, our Police continue to pursue integrated strategies to partner with communities.

They have been redirecting their own resources to crime prone areas, while enhancing their intelligence gathering, specialized operations and the adoption of seamless operational procedures,” he said.

He informed the nation that the recent launch of anti-Stock Theft campaigns in Lechana settlement would soon be followed by a country-wide roll-out to combat stock theft.

President Khama also noted that the employment of various road safety initiatives had had an impact, with the number of road accidents decreasing by 14.7 per cent during the first half of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012.

“The behavior of many drivers, nonetheless, continues to be of concern. During the first half of 2013, 93% of all road accidents were attributed to human error due to driver negligence, excessive speeding and/or influence of alcohol,” he said.

General Khama said to reduce the carnage on roads a National Road Safety Strategy was implemented in line with the United Nations goal of reducing road traffic fatalities by 50percent by 2020.  

In addition, Gen Khama said a demerit point system was being introduced with the aim of curtailing the incidence of repeat traffic law violations. He explained that these will complement ongoing police law enforcement initiatives such as vehicle flagging, sobriety monitoring and saturation patrols targeting detection of red-light violations and speeding.

“Since the inception of the vehicle flagging programme in April 2011, a total of 122,144 vehicles have been entered into Vehicle Registration and Licensing System, resulting in 67percent of the cases being resolved as of July 2013. The clearance of cases has also benefited from SMS alerts calling on delinquent motorists to settle their fines,” he said. Ends