Riots that erupted during the public servants industrial strike countrywide will dominate the 40th senior police officers conference that opened on Monday this week as they evaluate themselves on how they performed in combating crime in the last twelve months.
Rape is also expected to dominate the discussion as it has become a major threat.
Speaking to The Telegraph, the police spokesman, Assistant Commissioner Christopher Mbulawa said, “Botswana Police Service will this week hold its 40th senior police officers conference starting on Monday until Friday.”
He said the conference is held annually and is where senior officers come together under one roof to discuss the achievement that they have set for themselves in combating criminal activities in the last 12 months and also look at their failures.
Mbulawa said, as police, they achieved a lot and there was a small number of challenges that they faced during the last twelve months. He said at the last conference, a resolution was taken to deplore plain clothes officers on patrols, which resulted in a good number of suspects being arrested.
Mbulawa, however, conceded that “our biggest challenge is rape, which has now become of major concern”, explaining that “it is very difficult to prevent rape because, in most cases, the perpetrators are mostly stepfathers or uncles or people commonly known by the rape victims”.
Former Police Commissioner and now Acting Minister of Defense, Justice and Security, Edwin Batshu, will officiate at the conference.
