Police Professionalism Questioned; Seven Suspects Escape At Chitedze Police Unit

Police Professionalism Questioned; Seven Suspects Escape At Chitedze Police Unit

Seven suspects have escaped custody at Chitedze Police Unit in Lilongwe which was left unattended Saturday night, barely two weeks after a similar incident at a police unit in Mzimba.

The incident took place on Sunday after all officers who were put on duty failed to report. It is not known yet whether this was a coordinated effort between the officers and the criminals.

But incidents of this nature, where criminals are escaping after police posts are left unmanned are becoming a common phenomenon.

For this particular incident in Chitedze, a crime report says three duty officers did not report for duty both day and night shifts on Sunday. The police report which we have in our possession is also indicating that the suspects escaped through a rooftop, after noticing that there has been no officer at the Station for several hours.

Meanwhile, Lilongwe Police Spokesperson Joseph Kachikho has said that disciplinary action is being taken on the affected officers.

“The officers who were supposed to report for night shift did not report for duty and the officer who reported for duty the next day found that the suspected had bolted but we are in the meantime doing investigations,” he said.

In Mzimba, about 9 suspects escaped custody in a similar fashion. Security experts say these cases are telling of corruption and negligence on the part of the police.

This according to security expert Sheriff Kaisi is an indication of degrading professional standards in the work of the police in the country.

“This is making me wonder what sort of training our officers go through, this needs to be looked into seriously,” he said.

In few weeks, Malawi will be hosting various heads of States and other important dignitaries for a SADC meeting, surely, this would not be the right time for our men in uniform to be showing lapses.

Read 1416 times

Last modified on Wednesday, 28/07/2021

Login to post comments
Go to top
JSN Time 2 is designed by JoomlaShine.com | powered by JSN Sun Framework