As lawmen pat themselves on the back for a reported 15 per cent reduction in crime in 2016, residents have not only expressed their disbelief in the statistics, but a lack of confidence in their ability to address offences.
Disaffected residents used OBSERVER media’s call in programmes, as well as its website, on Thursday, to blast the force for Allegedly failing to investigate complaints that have been made.
Sociologist and educator Dr Ekua Richards, who said she was riled up by the statistics, questioned whether crime had actually fallen or “people are so fed up with the non-response or the kind of response they get from police that they don’t even bother to report”.
She said last June, her house was broken into twice in as many weeks, and to date she has been unable to obtain a report from police.
“I overheard the statistics for the same month, {last June} and it was ridiculous the number they said. I am saying that we need to take this with a grain of salt,” the sociologist said during her contribution to Observer AM.
Lawmen said at the end of 2016, the total number of cases reported stood at 2,468, almost 500 cases less than what was reported in 2015. In 2015, the total figure was 2,915.
Meantime, farmers have also been left disenchanted by the crime report for 2016.
Another caller to the same programme, who identified himself as a farmer, said the praedial larceny statistics recorded at 16 reported cases for 2016 does not reflect what happens in actuality.
“This morning {Thursday}, more than 16, you call the police for your farm, they don’t even come,” he said.
He admitted some farmers do not report cases of larceny, because when law enforcement officers are called “they don’t even come”.
More in today’s Daily Observer.