60 days of action � it's festive time!
Mmegi Editor | Wednesday November 4, 2015 16:18
This is the time of the year when cases of burglaries go up; when robberies also reach sky level; and when our roads become death spots.
This is so because with the festive mood in the air, some people travel and abandon their houses with no occupants, whilst others go on shopping sprees that leave shops and streets flooded with money.
This is the time when petty, and hardened criminals work hard to collect money to showcase their wealth during Christmas Day and New Year Day celebrations.
According to police statistics, road accidents are also common around this time, when excited youth display their bad driving habits thinking that as a way of celebrating the festive season.
We urge those who will be travelling to their home villages to engage their neighbours or relatives to take care of their houses when they leave for festive season celebrations. We also urge all to restrain themselves during this time, especially on our roads.
Of course we would not be fair to our police officers if we fail to commend them for the good work they continue to do to protect our lives and property.
They spend sleepless nights making sure that we are safe. We urge them to repair their 999 emergency numbers to direct calls to where they are supposed to go.
We also appeal to our police officers to exercise restraint and self-discipline when dealing with members of the public, especially those enjoying their festive season peacefully.
We know of incidences where police used excessive force on harmless members of the public, causing them injuries, and in some instances, taking away their lives.
We hope that such incidents would not characterise our last festive season before 2016, the year which we set ourselves targets to be a disciplined, compassionate and respectful nation.
We also call upon parents to always make sure that they know the whereabouts of their school-going children who are vulnerable to peer pressure and end up engaging in untoward behaviour such as drinking, gangsterism, and abuse of drugs.
To our bartenders, we also appeal for your cooperation with authorities and compliance with operating hours throughout this period.
We should all support the Botswana police to keep us safe and making sure that we bid farewell to the dry 2015 and welcoming 2016 with smiles on our faces.
Today’s thought
“No amount of law enforcement can solve a problem that goes back to the family.”
- J. Edgar Hoover