By ALICE NACHILEMBE
Copperbelt Police Commissioner Charity Katanga has withdrawn all neighborhood watch groups in Chingola for security reasons.
Speaking on Kokoliko Radio, Ms Katanga said that she is suspicious that some members of the neighbourhood watch could be behind the gassing.
She said the idea of withdrawing neighbourhood watches from the street was to help in cleaning the streets.
“The only people who are with us on the street during the night are neighbourhood watch and ever since they came on board, crime especially gassing has escalated. Fromm today onwards, I have withdrawn them and if I ever find them on the street, they will regret.
“When there is an emergency, residents should quickly call the police and we will quickly respond to them. We have beefed up manpower and we hope to bring the suspects to book soon. I have said soon because we already have suspects we are just trying to strike at the right time,” she said.
Ms Katanga also warned people who like inciting the residents on social media that they get a fair share of police anger.
She said the police like the residents are not happy with what is happening in Chingola.
Ms Katanga said that even the police are also affected by the attacks.
She said also advised the people to stop treating the police station like a market where they go and protest.
“I will just break your legs if you bring protests to the police stations. I will even give fresh instructions to my officer to deal with you firmly. We will use maximum force this time around,” she said.
Ms Katanga implored everyone to get involved and give the police information.
She said if the people want peace they should follow law and order.
“Those saying you going to protested am not going to allow the situation where people come to the police and protest, you will be dealt with ruthlessly because a police station is a serious place where people come to get justice. If you grieved visit the Officer Commanding’s office when we have challenges like this let’s come together see how we get out of it,” she said.
Ms Katanga said that it takes long to apprehend a suspect as they are also changing strategies, so the police is also changing strategies and trying to do a clean-up.
She said people can have a gun which is licensed or a machete but in a public is an offence and if they weapons are many in number then police will question the motive because one is not a factory.
