CID declares war on criminals

The newly-appointed Criminal Investigations Department (CID) director Senior Assistant Commissioner Stephen Mutamba has declared war on all criminals, saying the force will not hesitate to use minimum force in terms of the law on anyone who shoots at officers in order to evade arrest.

He challenged all detectives to ensure that businesses and investors operate in a crime-free environment and criminals are not given any breeding space.

Snr Asst Comm Mutamba said this over the weekend while honouring 22 detectives from the Vehicle Theft Squad and Homicide.

"I feel greatly humbled and pleased to stand before all of you honouring and celebrating the zeal, commitment, dedication, bravery and hard work exhibited by some officers and members who stood up and took action against crime.

"We are gathered here to honour the crack teams from CID Vehicle Theft Squad and Homicide, who spend sleepless nights pondering on strategies of how to nab notorious criminals that had terrorised the nation," he said.

He said the event was a milestone that would remain a supreme platform aimed at recognising and rewarding skilful investigations exhibited by the crack teams in the discharge of their constitutional mandate.

"I am indeed gratified to note the achievements made by these teams from the period 01 March 2018 to 17 May 2018.

"The teams recorded significant arrests and recoveries which saw a total of 139 cases including, armed robbery, robbery of motor vehicles, theft of motor vehicles, robbery (plain) and other cases being detected. A total of 10 firearms were recovered during the process.

"We are really proud of you. Your expertise and commitment to achieve desired results will continue to make us proud and we will ensure that you continue to have the requisite knowledge in handling such crimes of heinous nature," Snr Asst Comm Mutamba said.

He said as commanders, they were aware of the limited resources and challenges they were facing and assured them that the command is working flat out to deal with the challenges.

CID deputy director administration Assistant Commissioner Chrispen Charumbira said as a department they had realised that organisations that employ this positive principle of rewarding members for good performance actually encourage them to perform better, thereby promoting the organisational goals and values.

"We are gathered here to extend our appreciation to outstanding officers and members who confirmed themselves a force to reckon with at provincial level.

"These are officers and members who were not defeated by fear. Instead, accepted every single challenge and chose to make a breakthrough to surpass them.

"They did a splendid job and managed to apprehend criminals and recover various stolen property," he said.

He said these members worked as a team and managed to outwit criminals.

"Let me take this opportunity to remind all the detectives that law enforcement is a sophisticated business, and not quite as filled with the ungainly lot that some members of our society portray it to be.

"One writer Dylan Kurtz noted that it is common to treat the police as less than intelligent.

"But let me hasten to say that the Zimbabwe Republic Police Criminal Investigation Department comprises women and men who are skilled enough to interrogate, investigate as victory is always certain," Asst Comm Charumbira said.

The event was attended by detectives and senior police officers.