Of late, criminals have been wreaking havoc, a situation believed to have been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The robberies surfaced increasingly in the year 2021 carrying out weekly occurrences of crime in the country’s capital city, something that kept the police on their toes. There has been a sharp increase in petty crime as people continue to live in constant fear of criminals as they are attacked day in and out. Criminals continue to find their way into businesses, overpowering the police and security guards and making away with large sums of money despite the police’s determination to fight the scourge.
People are attacked and robbed at bus stops, speed humps and by the traffic lights, which have now become crime hot spots especially in Gaborone. Quizzed about the recent fatal shootings, on whether Botswana Police Service (BPS) has adopted the shoot to kill policy, BPS’ public relations officer, senior superintendent Near Bagali said post the 48th Botswana Police Senior Officers Annual Conference that was held in February, the service took a resolution to engage criminals.
