WINDHOEK – Crime Stoppers, a program that allows members of the public to report crime anonymously, will be launched in Namibia next year.
Namibia will become the second African country after South Africa to launch Crime Stoppers.
In South Africa the program is called Crime Line.
Members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) were in Namibia this week for a three-day summit with their counterparts in the Namibian Police.
The Crime Stoppers program depends on three pillars to function: the media, community and the police. The media is needed to publicise the toll free numbers, and for the community members to report crime, while the police act on tip-offs.
Speaking at the Israel Patrick Iyambo Police College on Monday, the section commander for Crime Stoppers in the office of Missing Persons and Harmful Occult Related Crimes in the South African Police Service, Colonel Dr Attie Lamprecht, urged community members to join the program once it kicks off.
Yusuf Abramjee, the head of the crime fighting unit in South Africa, said crime affects everybody. “No one can tell you that they are immune from crime,” Abramjee stressed at the event.
He said through 411 scams, for example, someone could be ripped off of their hard-earned money even if they are not in the same city.
Through the Crime Stoppers program, members of the public can report crime anonymously without giving their names or personal information.
Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi, the head of the Police Public Relations Division, said there are suggestion boxes where the public could report crime.
In South Africa the program was started in 1992, two years before that country held its first democratic elections.
Responding to a question on when the program will kick off in the country, Abramjee said they have given their Namibian counterparts a shopping list, and once that is done, they will be informed and then return to Namibia for its implementation.
The delegation was headed by Lieutenant-General Vinesh Moonoo.
SAPS and Nampol also had discussions on mutual co-operation on transnational and cross-border crimes.
By Tunomukwathi Asino