Police should practise what they preach
Jul 16, 2007
EDITOR—In one of the Uganda Police community outreach programme activities that I had the privilege of attending, my colleagues and I were told of the importance of being careful at the scenes of crime.
EDITOR—In one of the Uganda Police community outreach programme activities that I had the privilege of attending, my colleagues and I were told of the importance of being careful at the scenes of crime.
Handling articles that are potential evidence in criminal investigations should be done with care.
I am therefore very surprised at how clumsy police seems to be when it comes to following its own advice! I have seen police officers at press conferences where they parade suspects waving around captured weapons with their bare hands. A plain clothed gun-totting individual was also caught on TV pocking at a bullet shell on the dusty ground with a stick.
This brings into question the kind of evidence that is used to arrest and try suspects.
With such carelessness, I wonder if we can trust Police investigations.
When the police officer, Simeo Nsubuga waves around a ‘captured’ gun with his bare hands before its suspected owner is presented in court, what guarantee can we have that vital evidence is not tampered with?
Martin Makara
Naalya
Handling articles that are potential evidence in criminal investigations should be done with care.
I am therefore very surprised at how clumsy police seems to be when it comes to following its own advice! I have seen police officers at press conferences where they parade suspects waving around captured weapons with their bare hands. A plain clothed gun-totting individual was also caught on TV pocking at a bullet shell on the dusty ground with a stick.
This brings into question the kind of evidence that is used to arrest and try suspects.
With such carelessness, I wonder if we can trust Police investigations.
When the police officer, Simeo Nsubuga waves around a ‘captured’ gun with his bare hands before its suspected owner is presented in court, what guarantee can we have that vital evidence is not tampered with?
Martin Makara
Naalya