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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Momodou |
Posted - 20 Sep 2022 : 09:03:54
STATEMENT: SUSPENSION OF ALL UNOFFICIAL POLICE CHECKPOINTS
The Office of the Inspector General of Police has today notified all Regional Police Commissioners that all unofficial checkpoints should be suspended with immediate effect.
The decision to suspend all unofficial checkpoints is to facilitate easy movement of commuters and address other inconveniences that it has come with. This is a policy decision that is at the heart of the newly adopted policy doctrine of The Gambia Police force.
For clarification purposes, there exist official and unofficial checkpoints. While the official ones are state-authorized checkpoints, the unofficial ones are temporarily stationed at accident-prone locations to address urgent security needs and other traffic-related offences.
Meanwhile, contrary to the memo shared on social media, the cardinal points that distinguish official and unofficial checkpoints are not adequately outlined. Expectedly, this attracts public reactions, stating the recent spate of crime in the country. As an urgent substitute to proactively subsidize crimes, police operations departments are embarking on patrols around earmarked crime zones and sensitization tours across the country.
The Office of the Inspector General of Police wishes to assure the General Public that it is highly concerned about the security of the country. This alternative security measure is in the interest of the public. The general public is therefore urged to exercise calm and restraint during this process of reformation and rebranding of the police force.
Source: The Gambia Police Force |
| 1 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Momodou |
Posted - 20 Sep 2022 : 09:05:07
By Madi Jobarteh
First, it is a contradiction and concerning that checkpoints at “accident-prone locations to address urgent security needs and other traffic-related offences” will be removed. I am shocked that such checkpoints are said to be “unofficial” when they apparently have a noble objective!
If you remove these “unofficial” checkpoints what is the alternative to address what put them there in the first place? And if these so-called unofficial checkpoints are truly unofficial then how could they be said to be used to address accident-prone and traffic-related offences? What is unofficial is also potentially unlawful from an institutional point of view! The IGP needs to clarify.
Second, the IGP should identify the name and location of the official checkpoints for public information.
The public has a right to know which checkpoints are official so that we can detect unofficial checkpoints hence ensure accountability.
The police must be transparent in their operations. Until today, I am sure most Gambians had assumed all checkpoints were mounted on the orders of the IGP hence official!
Therefore let IGP tell the public the list of official checkpoints. This will help to improve compliance by the public at those checkpoints.
Finally, it is indeed disappointing that the IGP still wants to maintain checkpoints!
Permanent Checkpoints cannot adequately address crime and traffic offenses.
Rather the police need more resources, knowledge, skills, tools and enhanced welfare to confront crime which includes traffic offences. Thus permanent checkpoints (official or unofficial) only harm citizens. In so many ways!
The Gambia cannot be so different from the rest of the world such that it is the only peacetime democratic country with tens of checkpoints on its roads everyday of the year.
Every police station has a checkpoint in front of it. Every military barracks has a checkpoint in front of its gate. Within every 5km there’s a checkpoint from Banjul to Basse! Every checkpoint has all sorts of security agencies. Yet crime and traffic offences are rampant! Is that not an indicator that checkpoints are not working?
I urge the IGP to do a comprehensive research on checkpoints to identify the costs and benefits on both the police and citizens. Such research should also look at the manner, location, operations and efficacy of checkpoints - with a view to making the right informed decisions! |
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