Chronicle EditorManicaland Bureau
Police and the public should work together cordially to create the right environment for both social and economic development, Officer Commanding (Administration) Mutare Central District, Superintendent Herbert Rukanda, has said.
Supt Rukanda said this while addressing members of the police force and ordinary citizens who included businesspeople from Mutare and schoolchildren at the Client Service Charter Relaunch in Mutare last Friday.
“Citizens should expect good and reliable service from the police,” he said. “If a citizen calls a police station for assistance, the officer on duty should respond to the call within 10 seconds, which means that the phone should not be ringing for more than three times. “The police officer should respond politely and greet the caller, identify his station and courteously request to know why the caller needs help.
“We have trained our officers to respect their core values of dedication to duty, honesty and integrity. They must be transparent and desist from engaging in corrupt activities in their discharge of duty.”
Supt Rukanda said citizens on personal visits to police stations should get service within a minute of their arrival and in cases when the officer is still attending to something; he or she should first attend to the visitor and request them to wait just briefly before being attended to. On the other hand, police officers should also be able to distinguish between Grade A or B calls in the way they attend to reports, explained Supt Rukanda.
“Grade A calls are those that involve a life threatening scenario, for instance a nasty fight, an accident, a chaotic situation or a crime in the course of being committed and need the police to react within 10 minutes in urban areas and two hours in rural areas,” he said.
Online Reporter