Educated criminals causing headache, says police chief

POLICE Commissioner-General  Godwin Matanga yesterday said criminals were becoming sophisticated as they were educated and came from families grounded in sound social ethos.

Speaking at the launch of a Diploma in Forensic Accounting offered by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in Zimbabwe (ICSAZ) in Harare yesterday, Comm-Gen Godwin Matanga said this called for the need to continuously capacitate police officers with skills in the field of forensic accounting.

"The policing environment is an ever-mutating terrain and modern-day criminals hide in plain sight. Their ability to manipulate and conceal evidence with a view to defeating the course of justice is a potent challenge. "A good number of men and women, whom no police officer would give a second glance, seem to have an amazing infinity for crime. Most of them are raised from families grounded in sound social ethos and have good education," he said, in a speech read on his behalf by Deputy Comm-Gen (Crime) Stephen Mutamba.

Comm-Gen Matanga said the ultimate game changer in the fight against crime was ensuring that police were capacitated in the field of forensic accounting, among other skills. The ZRP has seconded 20 officers to undertake a course in forensic accounting. Comm-Gen Matanga said the fact that criminals continued to be sophisticated called for the empowerment of police officers to outwit criminal machinations.

"The threat posed by cybercrime is apparent for all to see and requires no emphasis. The potential for anonymity is an allure for many criminals and a challenge for policing. Thus the need for us as police to capacitate our officers to detect and professionally conduct investigations for successful prosecution becomes paramount," said Comm-Gen Matanga.

ICSAZ president Mrs Letitia Gaga said white collar crimes, corruption and other economic vices were on the rise.

"It is against this background that ICSAZ has come up with a Diploma in Forensic Accounting to cater for professionals involved in dealing with finance, audit and risk management that include the police force," he said.

She said the diploma equips the police officers with modern investigation techniques, cybercrime interception techniques and preparation of evidence that was acceptable in the courts of law.