Policing needs discipline from all

Mmegi Editor | Friday March 3, 2017 11:21

This figure is equivalent to dismissal of 58 police officers every year, and therefore one police officer every week. Rules in the armed forces can be very strict and therefore requiring high level of discipline from individual police officers. Many of us have been subjected to unfair treatment by police officers on our highways, in the streets, and in our homes. Some of the officers, most of whom are our former classmates, relatives, and neighbours tend to lose their humanity once inside their blue uniform.

They think of themselves as the law unto themselves and behave irrationally towards the public who are their customers and partners in the fight against crime and other social ills. Whilst it is a fact that the police cannot be everywhere, or on any particular spot where crime is occurring, it is disheartening to see police arriving at a crime scene an hour or more after the matter has been reported to them.

The same degree of frustration is inflicted on us on our roads when you are found to be driving a faulty vehicle, the fault that may not be life threatening, such as an indicator. Some of these faults can occur to a vehicle after one has hit a pothole during one’s journey immediately before an encounter with the police. However, our officers, who have been ordered to collect money, would not bother to listen to any explanation.  One wonders if the aspect of public education has been thrown out of the window.

While, the minister has stated that some officers were dismissed for failing to obey instructions, it is our position that the arrangement where the police service collects its revenue from traffic fines is skewed if not absurd. The arrangement has resulted in many police stations focussing on collecting more traffic fines than fighting crime in the streets.

Some of the premises of our police stations, such as Mogoditshane, are overflowing with impounded vehicles. Traffic policing has become a big business for the government, and will definitely result in corruption among officers, something, which is going to be very difficult to reverse. Mapodisi demand motorists to ‘latlha sengwe’.

We may blame the junior officers for disobeying orders, but a thorough investigation may also reveal shocking transactions involving their seniors. It could be that the juniors are disobeying orders from their superiors, which they believe are of corrupt nature and in contravention of the law.  The police service should be more transparent than just saying the dismissed officers disobeyed orders.

 

Today’s thought 

“No matter how much you respect them, cops are always trained to hate normal people”

– anonymous