Police challenged to raise their game

Arron Nyamayaro

FEWER and knowledgeable officers can perform wonders in modern policing than having battalions who are not aware of the demands of their work, a senior cop has said.

Police Officer Commanding Harare province, Commissioner Wonder Tembo, said this in his speech at the official opening of a Community Relations, Liaison Officers (CRLO) workshop in the capital yesterday.

“Modern policing requires regular updating of skills to keep personnel abreast with the ever-changing policing landscape,” said Commissioner Tembo.

“Mediocrity and ignorance has no match to modern criminal sophistry.

“Wisdom comes not from age but from education and learning.

“CRLOs are the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) brand ambassadors, whose personality should be measured beyond reproach.

“Their strategies must be well thought out and display the highest levels of professionalism, which this workshop is meant to entrench in them,” he said.

Commissioner Tembo noted with concern the growing number of cases where official documents are found on social media.

He also noted that some police officers were captured on social media doing the wrong things.

He urged the officers to uphold the integrity of the ZRP as a disciplined institution, which will not condone such acts.

“I therefore, charge you CRLOs to be gatekeepers who monitor and control the attitude and actions, of your colleagues.

“We can’t just afford to fold hands and watch as the good image of the police, built over years, is being destroyed in a single day, worse still by one or two unruly elements.

“Given the current scourge of crimes such as murder, robbery and rape, among other heinous crimes in Harare, I entreat you CRLOs to raise the number and standard of your crime awareness campaigns,” said Comm Tembo.

He hailed Envision Trust Zimbabwe Women Network, represented by its executive director Anyway Mutetwa, for sponsoring the workshop.