Police says it's ready to deal with criminality during festive season

The Inspector General Police, Martin Okoth Ochola, has said that they have deployed specialist teams at selected locations to counter all forms criminality during the festive season.

In his Christmas message, Ochola said they have made improvements in their investigations and intelligence processes.

"All Ugandans must know that regardless of who you are, crime and Covid-19 affect us all. We therefore, need to be mindful of Covid-19 by celebrating in very safe and socially distanced ways to help protect our families, friends and all those who are dear to us,"he said.

He urged Ugandans to remain vigilant about criminals, who always take advantage of the festive season to attacks members of the public through acts of thefts, robbery, house break-ins, fraud and cybercrime.

"We deployed visible and non-visible resources that helped crack down the perpetrators of these violent crimes. We also expanded our crime prevention campaigns and zoned the hotspots areas, mapped out all crimes and efficiently collected data on them,"he said.

He said this year, they anticipate a further decrease in crime by 5.4% adding that there is a substantial reduction in gun related crimes due to the DNA fingerprinting of guns, and continuous operations aimed at dismantling criminal gangs actively involved in kidnaps, human trafficking among other crimes.

"As a country, we have celebrated several religious festivals like Idd, Easter, Martyrs Day and public events like Independence Day, in very safe and healthy settings. We can still do so during this Christmas season without losing appreciation for each other,"he noted.

He said although on many occasions the great work of security personnel goes unnoticed, he is extremely proud of their achievements in reducing crime.

He said that this year was extremely challenging, particularly with the threat of Covid-19 and its significant impact on society.