16 Aug 2022

Social ills disrupt peace and stability within communities and must therefore be prevented.

Bangwato deputy regent, Kgosi Serogola Seretse, who was a guest speaker at a district crime prevention cluster awards ceremony in Serowe recently,   said due to their destructive effect, social ills should not be allowed to take root in the society.

Commending the Botswana Police Service for its different crime prevention initiatives, he underscored the need for the institution to continue to formulate strategies aimed at pushing it forward towards its crime reduction goal.

“The community is concerned about the rising levels of crime; among these are the abuse of alcohol and drugs particularly among the youths. 

It is, therefore, very important for the police to effectively forge partnerships with the community to address these social ills,” he said.

He said it was upon cluster volunteers to work hand in hand with the public in order to address these problems.

“Constant monitoring of these initiatives are also needed to establish their impact. 

The initiative commonly known as Ma-cluster is a voluntary role within the ranks of the Botswana Police Service that enrolls the community members to perpetuate in crime prevention activities,’’ he noted and encouraged the police to do their all to ensure the success of their different crime prevention strategies. 

Kgosi Seretse said the cluster policing initiative was introduced in 2009 as part of the police’ effort geared towards ensuring community involvement in the fight against crime.

He further mentioned that police volunteers worked hand in hand with cluster communities, which were made of the business sector, neighbourhood watch and farmers committees, which were divided into manageable territories led by dikgosi of the respective localities.

Kgosi Seretse said clusters also helped boost police visibility through enhanced patrols, resulting in crime reduction; adding that community policing promoted partnership, proactive problem solving and community engagement to address causes of crime.

For his part, former police officer, Mr Kesiametswe Gabaake, said the use of new technologies by organised criminal groups had an impact on criminal activities across the spectrum of serious and organised crime. 

Mr Gabaake said technology had broadened criminals’ ability to traffic human beings for different types of exploitation, including sexual and labour, the removal of organs, illegal adoption of children and forced marriages.

He said availability to perpetrators of new tools and advanced techniques continued to aid the commission of crime.

Because of this state of affairs, Mr Gabaake said the police service should move with the times and not do the policing the way it was done in the olden days.

Held under the theme, Community Policing: a Healing Environment for Victims of Crime, the ceremony saw awardees receive recognition under different categories.

Under the veterans’ award, Messrs Gaethuse Motshweneng, and Shadrack Masala, Ms Gagonthesepe Monameng and Ms Golelamang Marumo were recognsed for having actively participated in crime prevention activities for a period of twenty years.

The youth excellence award, awarded to youth who participated in crime prevention for a period of not less than five years, went to Messrs Omphemetse Kepadile, Thabo Dimeku, Tathego Duduetsang and Ms Kenao Tsamai.

There was also the community commitment award, which was given to clusters that had excelled in the mobilisation of the community through joint operations and other initiatives; while members of clusters that still had room for improvement only received certificates of participation. ends