Mishandled cases spoil Police record
Jul 27, 2009
MISMANAGEMENT of cases tops complaints against Police officers over the last two years, the Professional Standards Unit has said.
By Steven Candia
MISMANAGEMENT of cases tops complaints against Police officers over the last two years, the Professional Standards Unit has said.
The unit is responsible for handling complaints brought against the Police department and its employees.
The unit said as of March, out of the 2,985 complaints registered, 1,055 were on mismanagement of cases, followed by misconduct of Police officers (518), corruption (349), neglect of duty (301), unlawful arrest and detention (144) and harassment (166), according to a Police report on performance.
A total of 1,130 were successfully investigated, while 1,855 are still pending.
Other complaints registered included abuse of office, thefts, fabrication and destroying of evidence, assaults and involvement in civil matters.
Speaking last Wednesday, the Police boss, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, said measures had been put in place to improve the force’s image.
“The report only shows you where we are coming from. When I took over in 2005, it was a lot worse than this, but we are slowly transforming the force and a lot has improved,†he said.
The head of the standards unit, John Ndugutse, said while the report was a major achievement, the unit still faced challenges like inadequate manpower.
“There is need to have additional specialised training so as to equip personnel with more investigative skills,†he said.
Ndugutse added that of the total complaints, 17 were prosecuted in the courts of law. In 2008, about 2,168 complaints were registered, he said.
MISMANAGEMENT of cases tops complaints against Police officers over the last two years, the Professional Standards Unit has said.
The unit is responsible for handling complaints brought against the Police department and its employees.
The unit said as of March, out of the 2,985 complaints registered, 1,055 were on mismanagement of cases, followed by misconduct of Police officers (518), corruption (349), neglect of duty (301), unlawful arrest and detention (144) and harassment (166), according to a Police report on performance.
A total of 1,130 were successfully investigated, while 1,855 are still pending.
Other complaints registered included abuse of office, thefts, fabrication and destroying of evidence, assaults and involvement in civil matters.
Speaking last Wednesday, the Police boss, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, said measures had been put in place to improve the force’s image.
“The report only shows you where we are coming from. When I took over in 2005, it was a lot worse than this, but we are slowly transforming the force and a lot has improved,†he said.
The head of the standards unit, John Ndugutse, said while the report was a major achievement, the unit still faced challenges like inadequate manpower.
“There is need to have additional specialised training so as to equip personnel with more investigative skills,†he said.
Ndugutse added that of the total complaints, 17 were prosecuted in the courts of law. In 2008, about 2,168 complaints were registered, he said.