* 683 criminal cases recorded in 2020 compared to 872 in 2019
* Attributed to intensive day and night patrols, stiffer custodial sentences by the courts
By Mary Makhiringa, MANA
Balaka Police Station has disclosed that the district registered a 22% crime decrease in the just ended year compared to 2019.
The police station’s Research and Planning Officer, Sub-Inspector Mercy Mkondiwa disclosed that 683 criminal cases were recorded in 2020 compared to 872 cases in 2019.
Appeal from Speaker of Parliament Catherine
Gotani Hara
Mkondiwa attributed the decrease to intensive day and night patrols, stiffer custodial sentences the courts impose on those convicted and intensified crime prevention awareness campaigns, among others.
She made the remarks during a Station Executive Committee meeting which was organised to conduct a postmortem of the year just ended and plan for the year ahead.
“Despite the great achievement in crime reduction, the station has registered a 7% in murder and 38% increase in defilement cases during the year under review compared to 2019 on similar cases,” she said.
“In 2020, the station registered 15 murder cases and 44 defilement cases compared to 14 and 32 similar cases recorded in 2019 respectively.”
Mkondiwa said the increase in murder incidents came about as some people were killed by robbers while others were killed by angry mobs or family/community members over various disagreements.
“The police are, therefore, appealing to communities in the district to report to police about suspicious people in their areas and resolve their misunderstandings amicably,” Mkondiwa said.
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