adminCRIME reduction is not an onus primarily placed on the shoulders of the police alone because it requires the collective action of members of the public.
Without the support of the community, it will be extremely difficult for the police to execute their duties diligently because everything happens in the neighbourhood and, more often than not, members of the public have answers concerning fugitive criminals.
It is the public that has useful details concerning crimes happening on their doorstep.
When cases go to court for prosecution, police require witnesses from the community who must stand truthfully in the dock and help pin crooks menacing the society.
Thus, there should be a close link between the operations of the police and the input from the general populace.
Recently, Deputy Commissioner-General (Crime) Josephine Shambare bemoaned the increasing cases of theft, armed and plain robbery that are occurring in Manicaland during a belated end of year party held in Mutare.
Although the province managed to reduce murder cases by 8 percent in 2014, a development Deputy Comm-Gen Shambare described as a milestone achievement in attaining a crime-free society, vices such as theft and robbery are on the increase.
Such crimes are spiralling partly due to the harsh economic conditions that have rendered most people jobless hence rogue elements in the society have resorted to self help to put food on their tables. However, thieves must not hide behind economic hardships to justify their actions because their deeds are depriving innocent civilians of their property.
We take sides with Deputy Comm-Gen Shambare when she appealed to members of the public to join forces with the police and take these criminals head on to stop rampant burglary and armed robbery.
Fighting crime, she said, is a mammoth task that cannot be tackled by the police alone.
“As police we cannot succeed in fighting crime without the involvement of the community. The community remains a key component of our collective pursuit to rid the society of crime as was aptly emphasized by President Robert Mugabe that we must underscore the point that effective policing must flourish from the goodwill and co-operation with the whole community from whom any police force derives its legitimacy,” she said.
As Robert Peel puts it: “The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence”.
It therefore entails that there should be maximum co-operation between the police and the people because crimes happen in the community and it is the community that has answers to the vices that are affecting people.
For this to happen, a sense of mutual understanding based on trust must grow between the people and the police so that members of the public can freely approach the police for help while the police will also hassle-freely access important information from the community
The society can only have trust in the police if officers do their duties well. When that happens cases of burglary and robbery that are on the increase in the province will be greatly reduced.
It is not surprising to hear that some of the criminals that are breaking into houses and robbing people are seeking refuge in the community. We urge citizens to disown criminals and assist the police to bring them to book. Let us work together to achieve a crime-free society.
Online Reporter