The Inspector General (IG) of the Sierra Leone Police Brima Acha Kamara admitted yesterday at his police headquarters that most often police delay to materialize at crime scene because of poor communication flow between police and the public.
The Inspector General of Police who was acknowledging receipt of toll free lines offered to them by the Africell mobile company opined that the gesture came at the most appropriate time when the enemies of state want to dismantle the police force in spite of applaud from members of the international community that the Sierra Leone police is one of the best forces.
He did not however specify those he tagged as state enemies, but he pointed out that police were recently provoked at the SLPP office by some elements during the outbreak of violence between SLPP and APC at that office but they exercised restraint although they were actually chasing senior officers.
He also cited the recent disaster in Kissy when thieves were busy siphoning fuel through a punctured pipe while others were pouncing on the police who were trying to disperse them.
He stated that at times they are castigated for not reporting at crime scene on time little realizing that police are ill equipped with inadequate flow of communication he said , adding that with Africell’s gesture all the lapses would be a thing of the past.
The IG requested all operational commanders to be on 24 hours service as he has no room for excuse with the intervention of Africell.
In his remarks before he officially handed over the communication gadgets to the police through IG Acha Kamara, the Chief Commercial Officer Joe Amara Bangali Jnr noted that, the gesture was geared towards facilitating a 2 way communication between the public and the police force.
Four toll free lines were delivered to the Sierra Leone Police force to be used by members of the general public to easily contact the police force nationwide free of charge on Africell line.
The following numbers could be used to contact police: 900 for the Western area, 901 for Southern region, 902 for Northern region and 903 for Eastern region.
Members of the public who are without Africell line could obtain Africell sims at strategic points of sales all over the country, including customer service centres or on 088-999-999.
In order to compliment the toll free lines, a closed user group facility consisting of 49 lines were offered to the Inspector General of Police, Assistant Inspector Generals and other senior police to carry out their mission to promote safety and security thereby creating a secure environment for lives and property.