Tackling GBV: Poor Police Probes, Blabbering Politicians Make Solving Crimes Harder 

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It is infuriating to watch how law enforcement agencies and self-promoting politicians ignore one simple reality: when they make grand statements on live television, the perpetrators of crime are watching too.

Every televised announcement that police are “closing in,” that arrests are “imminent,” or that a new task team has been formed is not a deterrent — it is a tip-off.

Criminals do not surrender because of a press conference.

They adapt.

They go underground, destroy evidence, cover their tracks, change their method of operation, ditch cellphones and vehicles, intimidate witnesses, and relocate to another town or province to start over.

These premature spectacles fuel copycat criminality, spark widespread public panic, and open the floodgates for fake news, doctored videos, and sensational social media posts.

Fear travels faster than facts.

Communities panic, vigilance turns into vigilantism, and investigators must waste time chasing rampant rumour as well as criminals.

The mainstream media and social media unfortunately are not insulated from inaccurate reporting and misleading information.

It is so disheartening to see top ranking police officers who savour and enjoy each minute of the press conferences because no one asks them the hard, uncomfortable questions.

For instance, do we have a national DNA database for all suspects and convicted criminals?

I bet my last dollar we do not.

The top brass of the police seems to be under the delusion that by holding a press conference that is equivalent to solving the crime or to be seen to be doing something.

One pities their subordinates who have to do their investigations under such a public spotlight.

The self-promoting politicians make not well-thought-out placatory statements to pacify the public that is crying out for the capture of these perpetrators.

Before you speak of the return of the death penalty or no parole for rapists and the perpetrators of gender-based violence (GBV), how can you sentence or execute them if you can’t catch and arrest them?

Even when you have arrested them, how sure are you that they are going to be convicted?

If you consider shoddy police investigations, poorly drafted witness statements, sometimes extracted under duress, and the absence of independently verifiable, objective, and corroborative evidence, make convction harder, if not impossible.

Ask hard-working prosecutors how many cases they could not take to court because evidence was tampered with or inadvertently polluted by politicians’ unguarded comments at crime scenes.

Many politicians develop uncontrollable verbal diarrhea in front of television cameras, especially at crime scenes where they should not have been in the first place.

The sad part is that gender-based violence and femicide happen every day in all parts of the country, while the police and justice system fail to prevent the scourge.

Unfortunately, it is all political posturing and self-promotion because of press coverage.

Suddenly, the self-promoting politicians with nothing positive to contribute are unleashing meaningless and incoherent public statements to placate the public crying for police action and tangible results in the apprehension and prosecution of these perpetrators.

Hopefully, the Dawn Park murder case will not collapse while no effort is spared to solve the other nine cases and many more, without any politicians trying to impose, interface, immerse, and ingratiate themselves in the process.

Once politicians get involved in police investigations, everything becomes disastrous and distasteful.

Public hysteria has never solved any crime. Sensible heads and deep police investigative work, together with a helpful, responsible public with solid leads and responsible media coverage as sources of information, will help to get to the bottom of these cases.

Effective policing needs quiet, strategic, intelligence-driven work – not televised self-promotion that helps the guilty escape.

* The writer of this article, Nhlanhla Mbatha, is a current affairs observer. The views expressed by Nhlanhla Mbatha are not necessarily those of The Bulrushes

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