KEETMANSHOOP: Namibian Police Force crime investigations coordinator for ||Kharas region, Deputy Commissioner, Nikodemus Mbango said the region has recorded a significant reduction of 55.3 per cent in cases reported during the 2023/2024 festive season period compared to the previous season.

Mbango in an interview with Nampa on Friday said during the 2023/2024 festive season police in the region recorded 398 cases compared to 892 cases recorded during the 2022/2023 festive season.

This he said was due to the increase in police presence and public awareness.

‘We came up with a strategy to reduce crime called boots on the ground and initiated crime prevention patrols as well as a community awareness campaign. Also during this period no police officer was allowed to take vacation leave as instructed by our regional commander and all this helped in reducing crime in the region,’ he said.

Mbango further revealed that the region recorded about three murders compared to seven recorded in the previous season as we
ll as 13 domestic violence, 25 housebreaking, 22 robbery, seven rape and 23 stock theft cases.

About 44 suspects were arrested during the 2023/2024 festive season period in drug-related cases compared to only 15 arrested during the 2022/2023 festive season.

Police confiscated 28 kilograms of cannabis, 182 Mandrax tablets, six half mandrax tablets and five quarters of madrax tablets all valued at N.dollars 1.1 million.

‘With drugs, we have a 100 per cent arrest because we are proactive because when we find you with drugs we arrest you, unlike the other crimes that we have to prevent from happening or we have to wait for the crime to be committed to make an arrest,’ said Mbango.

Mbango went on to say that about 44 motor vehicle accidents were reported during the 2023/2024 festive season with one life lost while four persons were seriously injured, six were slightly injured and a total of 46 vehicles were involved in the accidents.

He commended the inhabitants of the region and urged them to continue workin
g closely with the police in the fight against crime. ‘Let us continue putting our efforts together as we did during the festive season and fight crime head on,’ he urged.

Source:The Namibia Press Agency