By REBECCA MUSHOTA –
THE Zambia Police has dismissed claims that the Service is the most corrupt and that its officers steal from various households during arrests.
Police spokesperson Esther Katongo said it was merely a perception that police officers were the most corrupt and that during raids, officers stole things and defecated in homes.
Ms Katongo said the Police Service had dedicated staff who were educated and had self dignity.
She said this when she responded to callers during a Radio Christian Voice programme ‘Chat back’.
“We need to respect police officers. They have dignity and are educated,” Ms Katongo said.
She said it was not possible that police officers could go into a person’s home and defecate in there or steal underwear.
Ms Katongo said such views were peddled by people who wanted to tarnish the image of the police.
She also said it was not true that police traffic officers were the most corrupt.
There are a number of traffic police officers that are corrupt, but the section also has honest hard working officers.
Ms Katongo said police officers were seen to be more corrupt because they interacted more with the public as compared to other law-enforcing agencies.
She said the responsibility was on the public to report any corrupt police officers to the police stations’ officers-in-charge or the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Ms Katongo said the Police Command could not act based on rumours and so it needed to work on reported cases.
She said if the public did not officially complain, the corrupt police officers would continue to engage in corruption and remain unpunished.
Ms Katongo said police officers should be mirrors of society and uphold the law.
She said it was unfortunate that despite the introduction of the chaplaincy where police officers could express themselves, incidences of officers engaging in gender-based violence and shooting of spouses still occurred.
Ms Katongo also said the police were within the law to use teargas canisters to disperse unruly crowds.
She said police officers were allowed to use minimum force in the execution of their duties.
The water cannons are currently not sufficient to be used in dispersing unruly crowds.