Young people have challenged the government to fully recognise the role of neighborhood policing in mitigating violence against women in Matabeleland South.
Speaking in a Youth Forum organised by CYDT to discuss strategies to help end violence against women, youths from Gwanda said neighborhood police officers have proved to be critical in fighting women abuse and GBV in the past.
“When we were growing up, Neighborhood Police officers were respected in our communities. Neighborhood policing was a creative strategy to curb local crime as these officers would work with local leaders, business owners and community members to collaboratively address crime in an effort to build a safe and secure environment for women and girls,” said Sthandekile Ncube.
Neighborhood police officers consists of local men and women whose work correspond to that of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP). They are the people who are aware of their community surroundings and usually help the ZRP to bring to account the perpetrators of violence. In a sense, the neighborhood police officers help improve communication and collaboration between the ZRP and residents.
Over the years, the Neighborhood Policing program has been gradually diminishing in Matabeleland South due to lack investment and prioritization of the sector by authorities.
Some youths who alleged they were relatives to some people who were neighborhood police officers said, many of them left the neighborhood policing program due to poor salaries and lack of support by the government.
“At some point, my uncle was paid as little as US$10 per month yet he and his colleagues were doing an incredible job to fight crime in our communities. When things were okay back then, we viewed the Neighborhood police officers as real police officers. We were afraid of them but now many people have no respect of them. We know that they are underpaid and some people laugh at them for wearing old police regalia. This is the reason why many people are no longer interested in becoming the Neighborhood police officers,” Fortune Dube said.
Dube said due to the low numbers of neighborhood police officers, crime rate has increased and many cases involve sexual abuse and gender based violence.
“Perpetrators now find it easy to prey on women as members of the ZRP are not enough to deal with all the crimes affecting a community. You will find that per community, a ZRP base has four to five officers. This highlights the need for the government to recognise the work and services of the Neighborhood police officers by giving them new uniforms and paying them sustainable salaries,” he said.
Emphasizing on the need to fully recognise the services of the Neighborhood police, Ntando Sibanda said, usually members of the ZRP come from faraway places therefore, they need neighborhood police officers to serve as liaisons between the police and the community.
“The neighborhood police are fast at engaging the community and familiarising themselves with residents and their problems by attending community meetings with neighborhood leaders. All this shows that the neighborhood police officers are the catalysts for fighting and solving crimes in our communities,” Sibanda said.
Sibanda added that, when a woman is being physically abused in a nearby area, the neighborhood police can swiftly respond to the matter.
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