30 Dec 2022

The joint efforts by the police and the community to fight crime are continuing to pay off in the Kanye policing area.

In an interview with BOPA on Thursday, Kanye police acting station commander, Assistant Superintendent Mogogi Mathaba said that they experienced few crime incidents in their policing area during Christmas holidays.

He explained that they started police operations, which were coupled with crime prevention strategies such as public education, early in December in preparation for the festive season.

Assistant Superintendent Mathaba said they also intensified police patrols, which they carried out in partnership with Botswana Defence Force and police clusters.

“I thank the community for helping us in fighting crime and I hope they will continue with that good spirit,” he said.

Regarding music festivals that were held in the area, he said they had increased police visibility, ensuring that their presence was felt.

This, he said, paid off as there were no criminal activities registered, except for one case of a stolen cellphones.

“We have arrested the suspect and the phones were recovered,” he said.

Meanwhile, the acting station commander said they were concerned about new crime trends where criminals used face masks to hide their identity when committing crime, especially house break-ins.

“I therefore urge Batswana to employ ‘ntebela ke go lebele’ strategy, inform your neighbours when you go on trips so that they can keep an eye on your property,” he said.

He said there was also a worrying trend of the rise in cases of missing persons.

He said recently two people were reported missing, but were found after a few days and reunited with their families.

“These days we no longer wait for 24 hours when someone is reported missing, before we look for him/her and positive results are showing,” he said.

He advised families to look out for their own, also urging parents to openly discuss various topics such as defilement, alcohol and substance abuse with their children to raise awareness on such.

“Parents should know of their children’s whereabouts at all times and who they visit as well as the purpose of the visit,” he said.

He also said their policing area was affected by incidents of electrical cable theft, hence his plea to the community to help in combating the crime. ENDS