Deputy Head of Media and Public Relations, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Samuel Saio Conteh has on Tuesday 10th November 2020 disclosed that the Community Relations and Corporate Affairs departments of the Sierra Leone Police will be embarking on effective community policing to curb the menace of armed robbery in Freetown.
ASP Conteh associated the swift move to effective community policing to what he described as “the spate of armed robbery” in the Freetown Municipality over the past few months. He disclosed that community policing will constitute stakeholders in each community, including but not limited to Members of Parliament, councillors, headmen, youth, among others.
He added that the police are currently involved in effective community surveillance in a bid to track down perpetrators of armed robberies, adding that crime and operations officers now spend most of their time at their various police stations monitoring and responding to armed robberies.
Conteh said the Local Police Partnership Board remains very crucial to ending the menace of armed robbery, which he strongly believes is on the rise. However, he was not helpful with crime statistics, especially on armed robbery.
He spoke highly of the toll free line (112) which he said residents from across Freetown can rely on whenever they are under any form of attack, “especially from these alleged robbers at their residences”.
ASP Conteh opined that armed robbers now use locally made pepper spray to do their operations at night, and disclosed that it is now an offence for any citizen to carry pepper spray. Conteh alleged that robbers have access to guns and other dangerous instruments from neighbouring countries.
ASP Conteh revealed that the police lack protective gear and riot equipment to respond to distress calls, but maintained that they will continue to do their best to ensure that they reduce the spate of armed robberies in the municipality. He further called on community members to cooperate with the police by providing vital information leading to the arrest of said robbers.
By Sulaiman Karim Sesay and Anthony Macauley