Aggression! Agression! Agression!
Victor Muyakwabo | Wednesday February 19, 2014 17:42
Seretse said this when officially opening the 42nd Annual Senior Officers Conference in Gaborone, yesterday. He said that a little aggression by the police would not hurt, as suspected criminals have shown no mercy in their operations.“We acknowledge that there are some special response teams, but it seems like they do not have the required little aggression to deal with the criminals,” he said
He added that they will discus more on how to be aggressive towards suspected criminals in their closed sessions in the absence of the media. Amongst other things the minister called on senior officers to consider the use of technology in policing, citing examples such as safer cities, special investigation units to deal with serious, violent and sophisticated crime and the creation of crime analysis functions, formation of cyber crime and computer forensics unit as well as border patrol capability to mention but a few.
“I can assure you that other projects will be undertaken to keep pace with emerging developments in safety and security. I am looking forward to the resolutions derived from this conference as they will be central in catalysing new developments,” said Seretse.
The minister acknowledged the challenges that police are faced with when doing their job. “Some of these challenges include the involvement of out-of-school youth in crime, the emerging complexity and sophistication of crime and the increasing security requirements necessitated by the recent developments in the diamond industry,” he said.
He also said that he is aware that the police are faced with repeat criminal syndicates usually seen in robbery incidents, increasing incidents of poaching especially in respect of elephants, fuelled by the availability of a lucrative market for poachers, as well as porous borders.
“You therefore have no option but to respond decisively by developing preventative strategies to produce the desired results. Enhancing intelligence gathering and specialised crime prevention resources to contain the situation could go a long way in bringing good results,” said Seretse.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Keabetswe Makgophe said that in 2013 crime in general continued to be a major challenge but violent and intrusive crimes recorded a significant reduction of about 15 percent compared to 2012.
“That notwithstanding, there was an upsurge in incidents of armed robbery, particularly during the months of July/August 2013, where various business outlets were attacked and robbed of their valuables,” said Makgophe, who added that these incidents, though not too many in terms of numbers created a lot of anxiety in the community. “Unfortunately the same criminal syndicates have continued to commit more crimes, however, we shall not spare any effort in pursuing these dangerous criminals,” Makgophe said.