By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
Efforts to combat crime in several communities in Freetown are being heightened by the Sierra Leone Police to reduce incidents and fear of crime among residents.
The Sierra Leone Police (SLP) said personnel from various police formations including the Operations Support Division (OSD), General Duty as well as intelligence officers have been drawn into patrol teams to conduct effective day and night patrols within the capital city. Crimes such as robbery with violence, stabbings, and pickpocketing as well as breakage offences among others will be targeted.
Freetown has been divided into two police regions: Freetown West and Freetown East. The former contains three police divisions, including the central business district where most government offices are situated with its difficult nature of city center policing. The latter has four police divisions, including Waterloo Police Division.
Samuel Saio Conteh, the Deputy Head of Police Media, told Politico that 12 police vehicles have been procured by the government for the police to conduct patrols.
“Out of the 12 vehicles that have been handed over to the police, seven have been allocated to Freetown West and five allocated to Freetown East and police patrols are now in progress to keep communities safe from crime,” Conteh said.
Under the new policing approach, Conteh said, police personnel will move throughout the city using the vehicles and could alight at any point to crack down on suspected criminal activities. He said the patrol teams will be embarking mainly on the covert method of preventing crime, using the recognized SLP ‘beat patrol’ model which includes community contact and intelligence gathering.
“We will use purely intelligence officers in the patrols to provide the team with the correct information,” he said.
“Police agencies all over the world depend on intelligence to fight crime. The Sierra Leone Police, from now on, would embark on intelligence-led policing to fight crimes in communities. When crime is eradicated from communities, people feel safe. The fear of crime is more potent than real crime itself and It must therefore be handled with professionalism,” Conteh said.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Joseph Moseray, head of Special Operation Division at the Freetown East regional headquarters, already has something to show to demonstrate the effect of both the boost in resources and the ‘beat patrol’ policing approach. His command includes Eastend Division, Ross Road Division, Kissy Division and Waterloo Division. The regional police chief said patrols which comprise personnel from all formations, particularly the OSD, were already in progress in his region.
The ‘beat patrol system’ is a step towards community policing, he explained, noting that it is an approach that involves community stakeholders in fighting crime.
“Community policing is about assuring the people of their security and safety through effective beat patrol system,” he said.
Moseray said although crime rate is “normal” in his region, they were careful not to be complacent and were pursuing strategies to deal with whatever incidents of crime the region was contending with. He said the allocation of the new vehicles has helped them achieve their objective.
“Crime rate is now at a low pace since the vehicles were allocated to the region,” he said.
© 2019 Politico Online
