The South Sudan National Police Service said the establishment of community policing has helped combat crimes across the country.
The Spokesperson of South Sudan National Police Service Maj. Gen. Daniel Justin said community policing was the best means to crack down on criminals and provide security to the citizens.
He said they had heavily deployed forces at areas with security lapses to maintain calm in the country.
Maj. Justin called on the community to cooperate with the police for effective security.
“Security is the responsibility of all, everybody is to play his part. The citizens are to cooperate with the police by interacting and sharing ideas and passing the information on time. Timely communication is very essential in combating crimes,” he said.
He said the deployed police officers include crime detectors who always dress in invisible uniforms as well as community police to identify criminals.
“Last year, the crime rate was very low through the efforts of the joint operation forces all over the country. The crimes like cattle raiding and road ambushes have just come up recently and we managed to do all we can to make sure that this thing is brought to an end.
“Now the roads are safe because we managed to deploy a lot of forces along the roads where we suspect that there are some criminal activities,” Maj. Justin explained.
Maj Gen. Justin said cases of niggers (a local term for muggers), Toronto and night robbers had reduced to zero. However, added that a month ago, some cases were registered but they managed to boost up the security.
“A month now, we have realised that we have registered some criminal cases related to niggers, Toronto, and night robbers. So, we again rearranged our house to boost up our security. Currently, the situation is good. Our records are saying that the situation is normal. If a crime happens, we must arrest the suspect and make sure he faces the law,” he said.
He said the cattle raid which was predominant in the western part of Juba among the Mundari had subsided through a joint security arrangement between the state and national government.
Concerns of crimes
The police spokesperson said that there are still minor crimes that often emanate from youth activities such as birthday parties where they have access to alcohol and drugs.
He said in such events as the night parties and the picnics, the youth sometimes fight among themselves.
However, Maj Gen Justin said some crimes have become persistent due to the COVI-19 pandemic restrictions that have kept most youth idle.
Control measures
The police boss said they had involved parents in crimes control so that they could advise their children to refrain from criminal acts.
He added that community policing was composed of police personnel from the community who would work in collaboration with the police forces in the residential areas.
He said community policing has helped in identifying the criminals which they report directly to the police in the area.
“We developed the community policing in residential areas. Community policing is involving the community in their security because security is the responsibility of all.
“We bring them together in their residential areas such that we give them directions on how they can protect themselves.”
He said they normally have a Police Community Relations Committee in residential areas with its secretary being the commander of the residential police post who shares meetings with community elders concerning the situations once a month
“This has helped because whenever something happens, they know who they report to and immediately the police respond and the situation is addressed.
“We are advising parents to monitor their children because they are normally created by the children to give them money which they use for committing the crime,” he advised.
“They are raising money, that money is actually from the parents. We have known that they have the contribution of SSP500 weekly whether they have a function or not.”
Maj Gen Justin advised the drivers to observe rules to avoid accidents, “in order not to be victims of road crimes, you must use the right speed limit, not overtaking wrongly, being patient when there is a jam. If we respect the rules I am sure those incidences will reduce.”
Last week, The City Review reported an incident where a Kenyan working at a barbershop in Thongping was shot on the shoulder after the robbers caught up with him at night.
Apart from this, there have been reports of muggings where some are conducted in broad daylight and at gunpoint.