18 Feb 2014

The Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Dikgakgamatso Seretse, has urged the Botswana Police Service (BPS) to employ positive aggression as a way of enforcing the law, but warned them to desist from being excessively aggressive.

Speaking at BPS’ 42nd annual senior officer’s conference in Gaborone on February 18, Mr Seretse said the police was a force multiplier that should display positive aggression whenever they cracked down on criminals.

He explained that positive aggression was when the police, especially special response units such as the Special Support Group (SSG), enforced the law instead of shying away from the law.

“I am not seeing good aggression. There are certain units in the police force which should look aggressive such as special response teams. But understand that good aggression is not force,” he said.

Mr Seretse said more incidents of crime were reported last year, coupled with an increase in the force applied in the commission of these offences.

However, Mr Seretse warned the police that they should expect and embrace criticism when they enforced positive aggression because some people would label them as being overly aggressive.

The minister also encouraged the police to develop preventative strategies that would enhance intelligence gathering and specialised crime prevention operations such as redirecting resources to target crime prone areas.

He said the BPS was troubled by repeat criminal syndicates that committed robbery and increasing incidents of poaching especially of elephants, fuelled by the lucrative market for poachers.

He said another problem was that of porous borders with neighbouring countries, moral decay and the failure of some businesses and individuals to adopt and adapt basic security measures. 

However, he promised that the police would continue to employ new strategies that will keep it ahead of the criminals and cast the net wider to cover other areas in order to make significant impact on the crime situation.

He added that members of the public were confident that the BPS was a proficient law enforcement and public protection institution and he encouraged the police to intensify public education through neighbourhood watch schemes and cluster policing.

“Government is aware of the difficult conditions under which police officers work. I pledge to do everything in my power, against this difficult economic period, to secure resources to assist the police to do their work better. I am committed to seeing a robust modernisation programme that will bring the organisation to acceptable levels and capability in terms of technology and human resources development,” he said.

Mr Seretse said the welfare of the police officers must rank high for the officers to perform better. In that regard, he said, government would engage an independent consultant to look into the conditions of service of members of the BPS and other security agents falling under the portfolio of his ministry.

When giving welcome remarks, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Keabetswe Makgophe said after the relocation of the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) from London to Gaborone, the BPS introduced a unit called Diamond and Mineral Protection Unit.

He added that though crime remained a challenge in the past year, there was a 16 per cent reduction on intrusive and violent crimes. However, Commissioner Makgophe said the level of violence took an upward trend particularly in businesses.

“The police will not spare any efforts in pursuing these dangerous criminals. We have developed a standard response time of 16 minutes,” he said.

The commissioner also decried the conditions of service of members of the BPS as well as lack of resources. The conference brought together senior police officers of the rank of senior superintendent and above.

The objective of the conference was to review performance and draw meaningful conclusions that will inform, direct and even correct existing policing strategies. ENDS