Criminals released into society over crowded cells
16 suspects released at Oshakati
At Katima Mulilo, cells with capacity for 80 inmates house 300 of them.
Police officers in the Oshana Region are being forced to release criminals due to a lack of space in the holding cells.
This was revealed by Oshana police regional commander, Commissioner Naftal Lungameni Sakaria, during the commissioning of the Oshoopala satellite police station at Oshakati.
Sakaria cited a recent incident in which a group of criminal suspects had to be released at Oshakati due to lack of space in the holding cells.
Narrating the event, he said the 16 suspects, majority of them young people, were wreaking havoc in the Oshoopala area, and he gave a command that they be arrested.
“They wreaked havoc in the area and they even made a fire and [set] dustbins [alight]. They put stones to burn down things so as to make the situation look uncontrollable,” he recalled.
“It was 03:00 in the morning, and I came and told them that the police have enough capacity and we will spend the entire night catching them one by one without rest or sleep,” he said.
Sakaria said by the end of the commotion, 16 individuals had been arrested, only for the police to later discover that they had no proper documentation on them.
Released on warnings
He said when the group was brought in, the police station did not have space to keep them, so they had to be released on warnings in the morning and asked to return at 14:00 with their national documents.
“While we are actively removing criminals from the streets, it has become a challenge to ensure they are kept in custody. None of them has returned until now,” he said.
Sakaria said 26 police officers are stationed at Oshoopala station, and they will increase patrols in the area to ensure the safety of residents. He added that on days where there are no police vehicles available to assist the officers, they will have to do the physical “boots on the ground” and move around in groups.
Severely overcrowded
Namibian Police chief Joseph Shikongo recently raised concerns about overcrowding in police cells across the country.
He said his concern was with police officers arresting people with schedule-one offences on a Thursday, “knowing exactly that Friday is the [only] court day and [they] have to spend the weekend in [the] cells, [which] also contributes to the overcrowding”.
He conceded that many of the country’s police cells are severely overcrowded, including the Wanaheda police cells, where over 200 inmates have been housed at once.
The Katima Mulilo police cells, which can accommodate 80, held up to 300 inmates. In the Kavango East Region, police holding cells are overcrowded as well. Despite a cell capacity of just 260, the region currently has a total of more than 394 inmates at four police stations.
This was revealed by Oshana police regional commander, Commissioner Naftal Lungameni Sakaria, during the commissioning of the Oshoopala satellite police station at Oshakati.
Sakaria cited a recent incident in which a group of criminal suspects had to be released at Oshakati due to lack of space in the holding cells.
Narrating the event, he said the 16 suspects, majority of them young people, were wreaking havoc in the Oshoopala area, and he gave a command that they be arrested.
“They wreaked havoc in the area and they even made a fire and [set] dustbins [alight]. They put stones to burn down things so as to make the situation look uncontrollable,” he recalled.
“It was 03:00 in the morning, and I came and told them that the police have enough capacity and we will spend the entire night catching them one by one without rest or sleep,” he said.
Sakaria said by the end of the commotion, 16 individuals had been arrested, only for the police to later discover that they had no proper documentation on them.
Released on warnings
He said when the group was brought in, the police station did not have space to keep them, so they had to be released on warnings in the morning and asked to return at 14:00 with their national documents.
“While we are actively removing criminals from the streets, it has become a challenge to ensure they are kept in custody. None of them has returned until now,” he said.
Sakaria said 26 police officers are stationed at Oshoopala station, and they will increase patrols in the area to ensure the safety of residents. He added that on days where there are no police vehicles available to assist the officers, they will have to do the physical “boots on the ground” and move around in groups.
Severely overcrowded
Namibian Police chief Joseph Shikongo recently raised concerns about overcrowding in police cells across the country.
He said his concern was with police officers arresting people with schedule-one offences on a Thursday, “knowing exactly that Friday is the [only] court day and [they] have to spend the weekend in [the] cells, [which] also contributes to the overcrowding”.
He conceded that many of the country’s police cells are severely overcrowded, including the Wanaheda police cells, where over 200 inmates have been housed at once.
The Katima Mulilo police cells, which can accommodate 80, held up to 300 inmates. In the Kavango East Region, police holding cells are overcrowded as well. Despite a cell capacity of just 260, the region currently has a total of more than 394 inmates at four police stations.
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