‘WE NEED EACH OTHER’….Call for police, media to work together

Tanaka Mahanya

NATIONAL police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, has called on the media and police to work together in serving the public.

Speaking during a police-journalists meeting in Harare yesterday, Ass Comm Nyathi said the two parties should complement each other.

“We acknowledge that previously, our relations have not been that good.

“The police should maintain law and order, while journalists have to provide information to the people.

“The police get to the people through the media, so we need each other,” he said.

He said the police were not there to stop journalists from doing their job, but to facilitate their work.

“We are a law enforcement arm of the Government, and the media is the fourth estate and a critical partner in the development of the country.

“We only need to balance the interests of the police in maintaining law and order and the interests of the media in accessing news.”

He said the media should also balance between the interests of their sources and reporting true information.

“We are operating in an environment that is influenced by social media. As the police, we are there to give people correct and factual information,” he said.