14 Feb 2017

Minister of Defence, Justice and Security Mr Shaw Kgathi has commended Botswana Police Service (BPS) for their commitment towards crime prevention in the country.
Speaking during the 45th Botswana Police Senior Officers’ Annual Conference held under the theme ‘Towards a safer and secure communities 2017 and beyond’ in Gaborone on February 14, Mr Kgathi said recent ratings by several rating agencies such as the World Peace and Justice Project, Mo Ibrahim and the World Bank had independently awarded Botswana good ratings on public safety and security, the rule of law, crime intervention, freedom of fear of crime, and effective policing characterised by police visibility and reliability.
He said those high level outcomes indicated the important role the police played in sustenance of good governance, peace and security in Botswana.
Mr Kgathi pointed out that the one area where BPS performance had been outstanding related to their partnership and involvement of the community through volunteers and cluster policing.
He said the fruitful partnership had grown strong over the years, and continued to play a pivotal role in the prevention and reduction of crime in the country.
Minister Kgathi urged law enforcement officers to continue with the good work, adding that Batswana appreciated their efforts in ensuring safety and security and that of their properties.
He also urged them to continue maintaining the same level of commitment, resilience and selflessness in executing their mandate throughout the 16 commanding districts in the country.
He thanked the public and other stakeholders for their continued support in fighting crime.
Giving an overview of BPS, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Keabetswe Makgope stated that crime in Botswana was still relatively under control, adding that BPS continued to realise some reductions in violent, intrusive and serious crimes, which were a major threat to the safety and security of communities.
Mr Makgophe stated that the violent and intrusive crimes such as house breaking, burglary, store breaking and robbery recorded a three per cent overall reduction in 2016 as compared to 2015. “Armed robbery on its own has gone down significantly by 12 per cent as a result of concerted effort to bring it down,” he added.
However, he raised a concern over the level of violence that often accompanied armed robbery perpetrated by criminals against both members of the community and the police.
The police commissioner assured the community that they would continue to respond in the most appropriate manner to protect Batswana, indicating that serious crimes such as theft of motor vehicle, murder, rape, stock theft and threat to kill went down by four per cent overall. ENDS