Who is not Telling the Truth in Lautoka City Incidents?
Arecent spate of alleged robberies and attacks on homes in Lautoka is a matter of grave concern. Equally worrying is the claim that one of the victims had contacted the Police and reported the incidents, but they failed to attend to the complaints.
The Police spokesman, Ana Naisoro, said there was no record of any complaint.
Some questions need to be asked and answered. There are two possible scenarios.
Scenario 1:
If the complainant had actually called the Police, who received the call and why wasn’t it logged? If it is true, it’s a serious matter. The Police officer involved should be be held to account and go through the internal disciplinary procedures.
One of the challenges that the Police have been trying to overcome is to reduce the response time to complaints.
Previously, lack of mobility due to shortage of vehicles was usually used as an excuse. That has been addressed with extra vehicles and motorcycles given to the Police. The other issue was poor attitude contributing to sub-standard service delivery. This might have been the reason behind this case.
Scenario 2:
It is also a serious issue if the victim had not called the Police. Members of the public are advised to call the Police even if they see any suspicious activities in their neighbourhoods. If they are the victims of criminal activities then there should be no question about calling the Police. It should be a logical action. Police intervention is urgently required when human lives and properties are at risk.
The victim in question should be held accountable if he is found out to have failed to call the Police. These two scenarios mean someone is not telling the truth and this should be established and appropriate action taken.
This would prevent loss of confidence in our law enforcement. We know that Police are under pressure at times but unless we carry out this investigation the situation could go from bad to worse.
During these tough economic times we are facing we could see a spike in criminal activities by people desperately trying to survive. We can use a twopronged approach to fix the problem. One is to tackle its root by reaching out to those in need and helping them out with the basic necessities of life.
Second is to come down heavy on offenders.
But first let’s get to the bottom of what really happened in Lautoka. Who is not telling the truth?