INSPECTOR General of Police Stella Libongani says the police service is short of more than 38,000 officers needed to adequately fight crime in the country.
Ms Libongani said the police currently has 17,200 officers, whom she said are inadequate for Zambia’s fast growing population, which is at about 13 million.
“If we are to compare that [number] with our population, we are running short of officers,” she said.
Ms Libongani said this on Sunday night when she featured on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation Sunday Interview television programme.
She said United Nations standards recommend one officer for 250 people.
“So we are looking at about 56,000 officers as the ideal number,” Ms Libongani said.
She also said corrupt police officers have painted a bad image on the service and that the arrest of some of them is sending a correct message to newly recruited officers that ‘bad eggs’ will be removed from the service.
Ms Libongani said officers should be professional, be content with their earnings and avoid corruption.
“We are supposed to offer a service to members of the public without demanding anything from them, be it a bribe or favour of any kind,” she said.
On the gruesome murders of women, Ms Libongani said most of the suspects have been arrested and are appearing in courts of law.
She also said the rate of aggravated robberies and murder has reduced and that the police service hopes to bring the general crime level further down.
“We still have few places where it [crime] is being reported. An indication that we still need to put in a lot of efforts by ensuring that we bring crime levels to manageable levels,” she said.
Meanwhile, Ms Libongani said traffic police officers should not force erring drivers to pay immediately they are caught committing an offence.
She said traffic offences are not wrongdoings that require traffic officers to receive fines immediately but that erring motorists can be charged and be allowed to pay later.
“The motorists should not pay there and then. They are not obliged. They have a right to pay at a later time. If they do not pay, we can take such a matter to court,” Ms Libongani said.
NOW YOU ARE TALKING STELLA. YOUR OBSERVATIONS ARE CORRECT AND YOUR ADVISE IS CORRECT. THANK YOU FOR INFORMING THE NATION WITH SUCH VITAL INFORMATION. GOVERNMENT SHOULD IMMEDIATELY RECRUIT NEW COPS.
The police service does not only need more officers, it also needs the following:
1. retraining of all current staff
2. equipment (computers with internet access)
3. communication ( most officers today use their personal cell phones to do police work and there are no phones in most police stations in the country)
4. improve relationship with the general public by being professional and not act like beggars all the time.
make one to one
But sorry, madam, there is an employment freeze until 2016. Even the few officers you have will be demotivated as the wage freeze and inflation take their toll.
The problem is you are using old labour intensive methodologies of policing. The police need to be restructured and modernised so that their capacity to curb curb crime is enhanced. You are stuck with colonial methodologies and mentality. 38 000 police officers over and above the current manpower levels is way too much unless its for addressing unemployment levels.
Stella, now talk to your uncle in State house to computerise the police service forthwith complete with the data base of all people living in the precincts of Zambia. CSO can give you this data, some data can be collected from the electrol commission and crossed checked with data from the Dept. of National Registration. Please work out a long term strategy of fighting crime and not proposing isolated and outdated methodology.
The real question is: – What is the best way of utilizing our meager resources? More jails or more jobs for our Country?
We do mot need more cops that will just add up more numbers to corruption , what we need are nurses in hospitals- not more beggars on the streets.
USA who even use Helicopters have more than our ratio where there is no or less aggravated robbery….I imagine if we had ONE to ONE ratio!
USA who even use Helicopters have more than our ratio where there is no or less aggravated robbery….I imagine if we had ONE to ONE ratio!!!
You you are sick! Check even your name title. You should be wearing diapers yourself. Grow up!
Please do some memos to be posted in every Police station, especially traffic offices.
Dear Stella,
I am entrusting the security of my family to you. I trust you could single-handedly subdue a criminal in hand-to-hand combat. I also believe that you can handle an AK-47 /pistol expertly.
And if the criminals were escaping, I know you have the agility and quickness to catch the fleeing criminals. I know you also have back-up sufficiently trained and on-call to respond to your radio (working) calls to them, should this be necessary.
Thank you Stella. Knowing all this helps me sleep better at night.
recruit more police officers