The ManicaPost
Luxson Chananda
Policing Manicaland
MANY people have often wondered why some arrested persons are seen back in the community shortly after their arrest, the question being whether he/she is known to some police officers or whether money would have changed hands.
Some have also questioned the acquittal by our courts of known criminals whose heinous activities are well-known in the area they reside.
Anyone can be forgiven for thinking along these lines, but an equally important question we should ask is; are we not contributing to these situation in one way or another?
Surely, the arrest of a marauding criminal should leave the community breathing a fresh air of relief now that the bug would have been plugged out. That being the case, we should ask whether it is always true that criminals find their way back to the comfort of their homes because of the power of the golden handshake or close connections they have within law enforcement circles or the justice system.
On the other hand and equally worrying, is the prevalence of criminal bullies in the very communities, cowering subjects into buffling silence over a number of misdemeanours and criminal activities which they commit at will.
The police has often come across situations where people have had to be content with staying with criminals among them because they fear reporting them to the police or taking any form of corrective action against the offending person.
Of course, the most popular reason being that the individual is violent. Nobody dares to challenge a theft or an assault committed for fear of reprisals.
Another side typical of communities shooting themselves in the foot is failing to report a crime; committed or in progress, or even more the tendency to standby and watch a victim being violated without rushing to his or her aid.
We have even seen some standing by watching a police officer who is struggling to effect an arrest on a criminal and enjoying the spectacle for that matter. They would rather cheer the resisting person on and opt to catch a picture or video clip of the scuffle, what with everyone now caught in the mobile-phone camera-toting frenzy.
The sum total of these few cited cases is that crime remains in the community and law enforcement and the whole justice delivery system is defeated in a number of ways.
Police arrest people on reasonable grounds of suspicion that they have committed a crime. The rest of the processes is gathering the necessary evidence needed to link the accused person to the crime purported to have been committed.
Bear in mind that persons arrested are often denying any wrong doing and the very law they would have flouted accords them the latitude of innocence until proven guilt. It is then for this reason that everyone needs to be cooperative to support the investigation and prosecution cause for justice to see light of day.
Many people are not willing to stand as witnesses in cases they have actually seen being committed. Some will rather keep their mouths sealed even when they are fully aware of the whereabouts of stolen property or exhibits, which are subject of a criminal case. They are those people again who give up on attending court in cases that are under trial at the courts and others who are induced to divert the process by withholding or giving misleading information.
The end result is that where arrested persons are arraigned before the court and there is no sufficient evidence of them having committed a crime or where the evidence seems not immediately avaible, the accused is left to go(remanded out of custody) until the evidence is availed or is acquitted at the end of the trial. When we do not stand up for each other, we encourage criminals to go on. It is everyone’s role to assist victims of crime in any way possible. When we fail to assist police when they are investigating cases, we are inadvertently assisting criminals and inviting crime to live with us.
No one is above the law. Do not be bullied into silence by criminals. Preventing crime is everyone’s responsibility.
ZRP Manicaland Press and Public Relations
