By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
Crime officer at the East End Police Division in Freetown says crime rate in that that part of the city “has relatively reduced due to the Ebola outbreak in the country”.
Assistant Superintendent Thaimu Balie Sesay said he took up operation in March of this year at a time when “the crime rate was a bit on the high side.”
He said even though crime rates were “usually very high in the rainy season” and “low in the dry season,” the Ebola outbreak had helped reduce the rate at which crimes were occurring.
Since Ebola broke out in May in the country, “crime rate has been below ebb,” said Sesay, who highlighted economic crimes such as fraudulent conversion, obtaining money by false pretence and larceny as the most prevalent of crimes they had recorded. But that, he said, had reduced.
He said crime hotspots in areas under his command included Abacha and Guard streets and nearby slums.
Operations Officer, Kelvin Abioseh Samura, said the East End Police Division was recently divided into various police zones each being manned by a team of police personnel supervised by a competent commander.
He further revealed that the general duty police personnel were engaged in “day and night patrols, especially along the riverine communities like Susan’s Bay, Big Wharf among others”.
(C) Politico 23/09/14
