Police blames public for failing to provide tips to fight crime

As police struggles to find solutions to the spate of murders that have characterized the country of the last couple of months, the force has shifted blame to the public that are not supplying it with adequate intelligence information about potential crime.

Police argues that, “Intelligence comes from people and we highly depend on the communities for information. In the event that intelligence doesn’t come in, there is no way we can act.”

But Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and Kampala Central Member of Parliament Muhammad Nsereko have quickly hit back at police, accusing the institution of taking a backseat yet the primary mandate of detecting and preventing crime lies with the police. 

Lukwago says, “The primary mandate of the police is to protect people and their property as provided in article 211 and 212 ( C )of the police act. There’s no way you can now shift responsibility and blame to the public. There’s is a lot of laxity in the police and they need to put their house in order.” 

The most targeted area has been Kampala metropolitan, where ironically, security cameras on the streets, deployment of 6000 LDUs and the military that is on streets has not blunted the crime spike. The duo says the quicker intelligence services are revamped the better for the country

For a long time, police has been drumming the community policing program as a viable solution to crime in the country. But due to the internal challenges in the force that have led several leadership changes, the program is heard no more, with little or no engagements between police and the masses like was the case before. So was community policing program disbanded?

But police spokesperson Patrick Onyango insists, “Community policing is still there. That s why we have the office of the political commissar.”