WINDHOEK – The Namibian Police Force (Nampol) has once again urged the public to make use of the suggestion boxes around the country to help curb crime.
Citizens are requested to provide information on the whereabouts of criminals and the nature of crimes to the police by using these suggestion boxes.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Nampol’s spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi said that the public are not making use of the suggestion boxes as the police hoped they would.
“If the public were to use these tools maximumly, we will curb crime. However, the public are not utilising the tools maximumly,” explained Kanguatjivi.
Kanguatjivi is therefore urging the public to pass on information and advice to the police about crimes in their areas through the use of suggestion boxes.
“When reporting crime through there boxes, you do not need to put down your contact details. You only have to write down the nature of the crime, who committed the crime, where it is being committed and when the crime was committed,” elaborated the deputy commissioner.
Kanguatjivi emphasised that the suggestion boxes are meant for people that want to report criminal activities unanimously but want to remain anonymous.
Without giving statistics, Kanguatjivi said that the police have made arrests from the tip-offs they collected from the suggestion boxes.
The police are imploring the public to refrain from making use of the suggestion boxes as garbage bins or using the boxes to donate money. The suggestion boxes are opened twice a week.
The suggestion boxes are round structures that are mounted on a concrete surface. They are red, with two blue stripes running across the body in a horizontal pattern. Between the blue lines is the police badge.
Currently, there are 56 suggestion boxes across the country.