IG calls for partnership in crime fight

Malawi Police Service (MPS) Inspector General Lot Dzonzi has asked the business community in Mzuzu to join in the fight against crime as the police cannot go it alone.

In an interview on the sidelines of a security stakeholders meeting in Mzuzu on Monday, Dzonzi said while police records indicate that there is a decrease in recorded crime in 2014 as compared to 2013, there is an increase in violent crimes and fear of crime mostly when the media picks up the issue.

Addressing the business community, Dzonzi said the police service does not have the numbers to cover everybody hence the need to work with other partners.

He said currently the police-community ratio is high at one police officer against a population of 1 300 people.

Dzonzi said as one way of dealing with the shortage, police has increased the number of recruits from 1 000 to 1 500 for the current intake.

In his one hour speech titled ‘In Search for a new paradigm in business security in Malawi’, Dzonzi challenged the business community to critically think of establishing business security policy in their businesses.

“How do we secure our businesses against fraud or harm; it is time to develop the security policy and train our staff to be security conscious,” he said.

Among other things, Dzonzi tipped the business community to have enough lighting at their business premises, adopt a no-cash-in-hand policy after hours, pay using visa cards, stop employing older men as security guards and dismiss employees who refuse to get paid through the banks as they might be the ones who tip thieves if there is cash at the premises.

One of the participants, Goodwin Mvula, called on businesspeople in the city to contribute money towards buying some vehicles and fuel for the cash-strapped police service.

This was a second in a series of meetings with business people, which started in Lilongwe and will see the IG meeting Zomba business community on Tuesday and Blantyre on Thursday.