Police in Mchinji says the district has recorded an increase in crime rate, a situation police in the district have described as worrisome.

According to January to September 2020 report presented during a Station Executive Committee (SEC) meeting, the district has registered 753 cases, comparing to 560 cases which were registered in 2019 within the same period.

In his presentation, Mchinji Police Station General Duties Officer, Jameson Mwale, said this has been the case because communities have decided to take law in their hands after losing trust in the criminal justice system.

“We have registered a number of cases arising from what we anticipated. You know as we are moving forward in a democratic society, some people are misunderstanding the word democracy as they taking the law in their hands.

“They are doing all sorts of things in the pretext of democracy,” he said.

Mwale said police in the district plan to intensify community policing meetings in different areas, especially those that have recorded high crime rate so that they should know that the law is still there.

“As police, we have a lot to do if we are to achieve reduction in crime rate. We need to civic educate communities on democracy,” he added.

During the meeting, which brought together different chairpersons for community policing forums across the district, it was also discovered that some community policing forum members are involved in corrupt practices.

Chairperson for Sector Community Policing, Grant Khola Mbewe warned those members to desist from corrupt practices.

“We have received reports some of our community policing forum members are involving themselves in corrupt practices, so we are warning them to avoid indulging themselves into this malpractice because once found, the law is going to take its course,” he warned.

Credit: Mana