British gov’t donates recording equipment to police

Child-friendly centres across the country will be installed with specialist recording equipment courtesy of the British High Commission.

The British High Commissioner to Botswana, Sian Price donated specialist sets of video-audio recording equipment last week worth over P1 million to the Botswana Police Service (BPS) which will be installed in all police child-friendly centres across the country. Handing over the equipment, Price said the British Government will continue to support the service with equipment and training to enable them to achieve their mandate.

She stated that BPS has become the centre of excellence in the SADC region when it comes to child policing. Price added she also worked with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the past to develop standard operating procedures for those dealing with issues relating to vulnerable victims.

“We have also delivered training workshops to BPS on interviewing victims and also provided guidance on how to acquire best evidence through the British National Crime Agency (NCA),” Price said.

For his part when receiving the donation, the acting Commissioner of Police, Solomon Mantswe who is also the Deputy Commissioner of Operations said the donation will have a transformative impact on the organisation’s ability to fulfil its objectives. Mantswe said the two states have a strong history of bilateral ties across different sectors including public security. “The

We have also delivered training workshops to BPS on interviewing victims and also provided guidance on how to acquire best evidence through the British National Crime

Agency (NCA)

current collaboration dubbed ‘Building the foundations for a child-friendly Police Service’ in Botswana is a classic example. This donation is not only cutting-edge technology advancement for the BPS but also a catalyst for innovation and growth. It will go a long way in empowering the police to capture and analyse interviews with greater clarity and impact,” Mantswe said. He further acknowledged UNICEF for its valued contributions to the cause of fighting for children’s rights. Mantswe stated that through UNICEF the BPS was able to launch six child-friendly centres across the country and has two more coming each in Palapye and Maun.

Police introduced child-friendly centres to create a conducive environment for reporting and responding to cases of violence against children. Back in 2018, UNICEF conducted a study that revealed that children are scared of reporting cases of abuse because of how they will be treated when they go to the police station hence the introduction of child-friendly centres.

Violence against children has remained a widely persistent issue in the country as they continue to suffer emotional, physical, and sexual violence and most incidents are rarely disclosed as they remain hidden, partly due to a culture of silence and shame.

Sexual abuse of underage girls also remains a concern despite numerous efforts by the police to educate members of the public about defilement and the child-friendly centres are expected to create a conducive environment for reporting and responding to cases of violence against children.