We need the new way of policing - Indongo
KEETMANSHOOP – The Namibian Police Force’s //Kharas Regional commander, David Indongo, said it is time the police cease the traditional way of policing and adopt modern ways that involve the community in the fight against crime.
Indongo made the remarks here on Monday during a meeting between the police and chief Joel Stephanus of the Vaalgras Traditional Authority.
“We need a new approach to work with our communities to bring criminals to justice. We need to create neighbourhood watch, community, church and youth against crime forums to fight crime. This approach has been adopted in other countries and has proven to be working to minimise crime within the communities,” said Indongo.
He said community members should be on the lookout for any suspicious activities or movement within their setups and report such activities or movements to the police. “We, the police, cannot continue to work in isolation; we need the community members to give us information and we need accurate information to follow up on. However, sometimes, as community members, we turn a blind eye when our loved ones are the ones committing the crimes. This should not be so; let us start within our homes. If there are criminals, we need to start at home because in the end, crime affects the whole community and not just certain individuals,” he stressed.
Further, the regional commander said the police in the region is faced with the lack of manpower, with only 687 police officers out of the 2 211 Force’s approved structure for the region.
He added that the lack of manpower is caused by government budget cuts, as they cannot recruit new officers; some officers are discharged – some others retired, while others go and look for greener pastures and no repayment is done.
“Yes, the lack of manpower should not discourage police officers from carrying their work effectively and efficiently. As it stands, one police officer has to police at least 1 000 people in this region, according to the last census. So, as police officers, we are outnumbered,” said Indongo.