22 Dec 2023

Botswana Police Service (BPS) is ready to have armed officers patrolling the streets of the country’s two major cities, Gaborone and Francistown.

This follows the launch of BPS City Police wing by Minister of Defence and Security, Mr Kagiso Mmusi on December 21 and the exercise was activated straightway.

Minister Mmusi said the new addition to the country’s police wing comprised officers trained under the Special Support Group (SSG) branch and equipped to timely and effectively respond to crime.

“The city police officers will be armed and equipped with resources that will enable them to respond to any criminal activities, whether small or huge,” the minister said.

He explained that Gaborone and Francistown were chosen as the first places to have the City Police, owing to the patterns of crime in such areas.

He added that the same service would be expanded to other areas in future.

On other issues, Mr Mmusi revealed that from February next year, BPS would start using drones as part of their policing activities.

“Drones will assist the police to be responsive and capture data timeously and relay it to officers on the ground,” he said.

Again, he said as the police advanced in technology, steps were being undertaken to ensure that the information gathered would be admissible before the court. Ends