Dear Editor
The arrest of a police man mounting a fake roadblock in kuwadzana, in the capital city Harare has opened a can of worms over the conduct of the police. On being searched the police man was found to have $800 on his person in contravention of police rules that officers on duty must not carry excess cash on their person.
In another incident in Hatfield police officers were conniving with a local barber to keep the money they would have extorted from unsuspecting motorists.
Some months ago some police officers manning a roadblock lost $2000 that they had apparently hidden under a pile of rubbish. The police officers went on to beat up an entire village accusing the villagers of having stolen the money.
No one knows if these police officers were ever disciplined. It was also never disclosed to the public why police officer hid cash under a pile of rubbish. Are these the methods being used by the ZRP to safe keep revenue?
The levels of indiscipline and corruption in the force have now reached alarming levels. The police are now only accountable to themselves and their behaviour leaves a lot to be desired.
A moral hazard associated with allowing officers to collect cash from the public is leading to these acts of corruption. One just has to see the number of roadblocks in the CBD and national highways.
Even officers who are off duty are said to be wearing their uniforms and going on the roads to collect money from unsuspecting motorists. This is because the ZRP has given too much power to officers who do not have any respect for the public and think they are a law unto themselves.
Why don’t the police inform the public about authorised traffic road blocks? How can the public be sure that some of the people masquerading as police officers are not thieves or robbers waiting to pounce on them?
Police are encouraging this behaviour by their officers by continuously failing to put measures that allow motorists to pay fines at the police stations. The practice of spot fines which the police vehemently defended after a top High Court judge condemned the practice is fuelling this corruption
Disgruntled road user, Chitungwiza
