Lack of photos hamper hunt for fugitives, source claims

The police maintain that they have a standard internal policy requiring photos to be taken of detained inmates, especially those who have committed serious crimes and are trial-awaiting.In reality, however, some police stations overlook this procedure, making it difficult to trace suspected criminals if they escape from police custody.Four months ago, the Criminal Investigation Directorate revealed that since 2019, there have been 970 attempted prison escapes. Of these, 690 inmates have been re-apprehended, while 284 remain at large.Last month, 11 inmates escaped from the Omuthiya police holding cells, of which six were re-arrested. The holding cells are located in the N$280 million state-of-the-art Oshikoto regional headquarters.No ID However, a source within the Oshikoto police, who preferred to remain anonymous, has alleged that the police are struggling to re-arrest the remaining five fugitives due to a lack of photographs of some of them.Despite this, the police have requested the community&#039;s assistance in locating the fugitives, which has led to police following up on leads that are a "waste of time and resources," the source claimed.“With the police desperate to re-arrest criminals, they will follow any tip-off, and once the officers get to the said area, they discover that the people or person being suspected is not the one."He said this could have been avoided if the inmates had been photographed.In some cases, police are fortunate to be able to trace suspects by being able to access photos of them through their social media accounts.Standard procedureWhen contacted for comment last Wednesday, Police Deputy Inspector General for Administration, Major General Anne-Marie Nainda, said: “It&#039;s a general standing practice, in fact it&#039;s an internal policy, that once we have arrested suspected persons, especially those who are arrested for serious offences ...that investigating officers or detectives must take photographs and fingerprints of such suspected persons.”She said photographs are important for many reasons, including the accurate identification of suspects for court proceedings, as well as the identification of fugitives and those who fail to honour bail conditions or mandatory court appearances.Photos make it "easier for us to circulate those photos and re-arrest them or get hold of them," she said.On the issue of Omuthiya, Nainda said that photos of the suspects were circulated which led to the successful re-arresting of six inmates from the 11 that escaped.On the issue of Omuthiya, Nainda said that photos of the suspects were circulated, which led to the successful re-arrest of six out of the 11 inmates who escaped."I just confirmed what the situation was, but there were photographs taken of those suspects – the 11 that escaped from the cell, some of them, those that had serious cases, there were photographs taken,” Nainda said.kenya@namibiansun.com

Lack of photos hamper hunt for fugitives, source claims

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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Lack of photos hamper hunt for fugitives, source claims

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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