***The Flip Side*** The long arm of the lawless WRITTEN BY CHRIS JACOBIE THURSDAY, 28 NOVEMBER 2013 05:59 THE time has come for the Namibian Police (NAMPOL) to seriously take stock of themselves and determine if they are working with the public or whether only the public is co-operating with the police. It is clear by now that co-operation between police and citizens and trust in the force is, at this time, sadly lacking. It has already been proven that criminals have infiltrated the police or even worse, they have achieved the impossible of posing and acting like policemen without being detected by colleagues in law enforcement. This phenomenon has reared its head so often that senior members of the force readily admit that criminals posing as police officers are suspects in very serious crimes. It is not a matter of debate, but a proven fact that some crimes are not taken seriously by officers on duty and that in some communities, especially the more unfortunate and illiterate, policemen act as the magistrate, jury and executioner. Therefore, it is not an isolated case, but another shocking reminder of the true state of affairs, that a young woman tragically lost her life when she was shot in her head by her stepfather against whom a restraining order from the court had been obtained. In fact, had the police given the mother and daughter the benefit of the doubt and had they not immersed themselves in unnecessary administrative technicalities, but instead just heeded the call for more sensitivity to violence against women, the daughter may still be alive, because the stepfather might have been in custody. More or less at the same instant, a well-known Namibian farmer, Mr Helmut Goldbeck, was beaten and tortured to within an inch of his life, because he trusted three men posing as detectives, investigating a case, and as a law-abiding citizen rendered all his assistance. The tragedy of Helmut Goldbeck is that after he had a brush with the law in 1991 when he was fired at and wounded by over-eager guards of the founding father, he obeyed and trusted the authorities at his own peril. A month earlier, more or less in the same area, three criminals tried to extort money from the traumatized Eichhoff family by posing as policemen who can get dockets lost and their son out of trouble. Luckily, the Eichhoff family trusted the judiciary and did not fall into the temptation which very few can resist. During bail hearings it became a matter of public record when attorneys stated that it is common practice that suspects are offered a way out by policemen or by those posing as policemen. The problem now is which are which. The lack of confidence in law enforcement is becoming the norm and so will taking the law into own hands if it is not addressed as a matter of urgency. Namibians do not even have the opportunity to ask lawmakers that are now in the National Assembly busy with the last session of parliament to intervene with a motion or a proposal to strengthen the police or apply the law. Parliament shamefully often has to adjourn, because of a lack of interest and thus a lack of a quorum. Namibia now finds itself in a situation where politicians and lawmakers are ridiculed and where the police are under suspicion - not for not performing - but suspicion of not having the capacity to realise how bad their image really is becoming. This week alone must be a serious wake-up call that drastic action is needed to assess a situation where confidence in policemen is dwindling, forcing citizens to take the law into their own hands with devastating effects on the judiciary. It does not need a rocket scientist to work out that something is seriously wrong in a society when a person out of frustration, because of the impunity with which criminals were operating from a bar, decided that enough is enough and burnt it down resulting in a tragic loss of life and serious injury to patrons of the spot. Citizens are reminded all the time that they must work with the police and when they do, they are beaten up, ignored or even robbed and raped. Maybe it is time for the police to start working with their communities and respect their fears and worries and be more sensitive to their needs. It is already painful to witness communities being ruled as if they are serfs for the pleasure of their masters and it is even more painful to see the contempt that people are being treated with in charge offices. Members of the force are under serious suspicion, not by the media or the opposition, for being guilty of charges ranging from incompetence to impotence. It is rather a suspicion that they cast upon themselves and this has been proven beyond reasonable doubt by any reasonable man through circumstantial evidence. The Namibian police cannot act as if a growing crisis of confidence in the force is going to solve itself. In as much as the public needs to co-operate with the police it is time for the police to prove that the Namibian public can trust them. Furthermore, the police should prove that they deserve to work with the Namibian public to ensure a safe Namibia where citizens can live freely. If children play cops and robbers and if every child wants to be a gangster, it is because the crooks always win and the police always look stupid. It is a very dangerous situation that Namibia can ill afford and definitely not ignore. The bad apples are becoming more than the good and the time has come to recruit the best, because Namibia deserves the best.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 06:38:20 +0000
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