MEDIOCRE POLICE REPORTS
By Godfrey Chitalu
ALTHOUGH I grew up in a military establishment where “my friend you are not my friend” statements were common, I’m getting a bit ballistic about poor police reports.
Forget about factual and perpetuated inaccuracies but it seems our police have only one, albeit warped way of writing and orally communicating to the general public. Things must change!
For instance, we had reports about a businessman shot 22 times: I don’t know whether the police relied on bullet wounds or shell casings that littered the crime scene.
Small wonder popular bloggers like Chilufya Tayali, have started doubting the authenticity of some of the police reports. He posted his misgivings on Facebook and asked police some tough questions, that remain unanswered.
It is either the police overstated the 22 shots or the victim is one of a lucky few Zambians.
As for motor vehicle accidents, driving north to south and overspeeding are common features in police reports.
Telling our people that an accident occurred when a vehicle was moving from north to south is mediocrity. Since officers on a daily basis write accident, incident, arrest, occurrence, routine, and related reports, they should have honed their skills by now.
It is now evident that most reports released to the public have glaring inadequacies. Some of them fail to adequately describe the scenario.
How does the general populace interpret ill-prepared, non-descriptive police statements? What should the police do to gain public confidence in regard to reports?
Is it a crime to be street-specific in an accident report? Do our officers know the difference between speeding and reckless driving? Why don’t we have reports about faulty brakes, driving under the influence, bad weather, and visibility issues? Why are reports that specifically mention improperly inflated tires rare?
I’m neither a ballistic nor a legal expert and won’t say a lot – maybe it’s grapevine but I heard about a single bullet that killed two people in opposite directions! Perhaps someone needs to advise our officers on how to be descriptive, logical, orderly, and convincing in their written and oral reports.
Our officers should ensure that the five senses; hearing, sight, taste, touch, and smell, come alive in their reports. In other countries, police reports are usually done by officers closest to the crime scene.
As long as all police reports are channeled to one spokesperson in Lusaka, the status quo of “my friend you are not my friend” reports might just continue ad Infinitum!
The author is a social commentator who writes for pleasure.
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