Smash and grab incidents kept the police busy with daily occurrences as robbers attacked innocent people by the traffic lights, intersections, and speed humps. The robbers sometimes used force or threatened them with sharp objects. For years, the city has been experiencing an upsurge in cases of violent crime posing a danger to the lives of members of the public who were living in constant fear of criminals and felt unsafe driving at night.
Concerned with these incidents, a few years ago the government, through the BPS, installed cameras with video surveillance in Gaborone and Francistown respectively to fight the scourge. This move was followed by a bold statement by the Minister of Defence and Security, Kagiso Mmusi, instructing the police to do whatever it took to eliminate petty criminals as people were living in constant fear even in the comfort of their homes and cars.
Dubbed the safer city project, the video surveillance programme is characterised by the use of closed-circuit television CCTV, which have been installed in the two cities. The Safer City project surveillance cameras installed by China’s Huawei Technologies Botswana currently have 650 operational cameras in Gaborone and 524 in Francistown.
Before the installations of cameras, there were some known hotspots in and around the city like the Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) traffic lights, Bull and Bush traffic lights and CBD traffic lights next to the flyover, Total Filling Station and Taung hiking bus stop along the A1 Road to mention but a few where people were attacked, their cars being smashed, assaulted and robbed of their valuables.
These hotspots were always dotted with a group of men in their 20s walking by the roadside or waiting by the traffic lights or junctions to deprive motorists of their valuables. Criminals usually go around in possession of knives and pairs of scissors amongst other deadly weapons, which they use to threaten their victims demanding mobile phones, laptops and money.
Back in February 2022, the then Minister of Health and Wellness, Edwin Dikoloti, was attacked by thugs near the Taung hiking spot where he sustained injuries.
This incident was followed by a video that was released by the police showing a group of criminals attacking and smashing the minister’s car in a traffic congestion threatening him with sharp objects.
In an interview with Mmegi post the celebration of the service’s 140 anniversary that was held at the National Stadium recently, the BPS’ spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Dipheko Motube, was confident the service is currently handling smash and grabs very well a move that was aided by the installation of CCTV surveillance cameras installed in traffic lights.
Motube justified the move has helped them identify criminals, fight crime and make the country safer for its citizens as it is being expanded in Greater Gaborone. He stated that the cameras have since helped them in reactive and proactive policing because they are able to monitor them. If they see anything or someone suspicious, they can apprehend that person or such people before any crime could be committed.
“Residents of Gaborone used to live in constant fear of criminals who attacked them by the traffic lights, speed humps and by the gates when arriving home at night by with the developments of CCTV cameras we managed to curb smash and grab. Even though crime cannot just disappear like that we are happy that we our efforts are bearing fruits as we are currently handling smash and grab incidents,” Motube said.
Motube added that as a means to reinforce police visibility, the two cities are under real-time camera surveillance and the cameras have helped them to crack down on some cases. He said unlike a few years ago, residents of Gaborone are free to drive at night because criminals no longer target them by the traffic lights, smash their cars and rob them of their valuables because they are aware of the cameras.
On a different note, Motube said the service has embraced digitisation, which would soon see the BPS offering some of its services online.
“Everyone has moved on to the digital world and so have we. Come September, some of our services such as firearm permits, motor vehicle clearance permits and others will be accessible online. We have indeed embraced digitasation because even our Police Day celebrations were able to be viewed by the public everywhere in the country who could not attend the event physically because the event was broadcast live on our Facebook page,” Motube said.
