Seretse said the neighbourhood watch system has been in existence, but is not as effective as it is supposed to be.
He said in the improved system, the police will ask for volunteers from the community. The volunteers will be rewarded for their efforts in fighting crime. Seretse did not disclose the proposed reward saying he preferred to keep it a secret because it will not be a salary and people should not be drawn into thinking that the volunteers are now employed by the Botswana police. He said the reward will be based on the success of the project in various clusters. He said they would not only consider the youth for volunteers, because everyone can help fight crime in the community. He said the main objective of the initiative is to improve the security in the clusters by means of making communication easy between the residents and the police. The minister said the police will help households in various clusters to invest in buying radios that will create a network among residents so that they can communicate with each other and the police to tackle crime effectively. "We want to bridge the gap between incidence and response by the police. If the police are notified immediately about a crime, they will react quickly and that way we will win the battle against crime," Seretse said. He added that they want to change the notion that the criminal is always one step ahead of the people and law enforcers. He commended efforts by the Grand Palm for being exemplary in the fight against crime. He said the hotel exercised its social responsibility by contributing to the community. "This is very exemplary to the community. We have to put it (sic) upon ourselves to assist the police to assist us," Seretse said. He said the initiative came as an answer to his call for community assistance to the police in the fight against crime by forming policing clusters to deal directly with crime in the communities. He commended residents of Block Five and Block Six in Gaborone for their commitment in policing themselves through implementing a satellite police station in their area.
