Opinion / Columnist
UFP statement on the Mutare fatal accident caused by police spikes
06 May 2022 at 13:34hrs | Views
The United Freedom Party (UFP) notes with great concern the fatal accident where four people died and eight were seriously injured when police threw a spike on a moving commuter omnibus near Mutare on Wednesday.
As a party, we are irked that some members of our police service have abandoned the key values of professionalism that are a component of their work ethic. Instead, they have become callous and uncaring.
Traditionally, the police have always been protectors but when they do not hesitate to throw spikes at a moving vehicle, endangering people's lives, then this is a departure from the values that define policing.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police says it is a people-oriented police service provider that seeks to maintain law and order towards the socio-economic development of the people and one of its objectives is to reduce traffic accidents.
But when some of the members of the police service contribute to accidents by throwing spikes at moving vehicles, there is need to read the riot act.
A responsible and professional Police Service should protect the public as per their service charter and not to cause the loss of the lives of the very people they are meant to protect.
This is not the first time the use of police spikes has been discussed and at one time, they appear to have been disbanded.
As we speak today, we have bodies of victims of police spikes lying in the mortuary while some are in excruciating pain in hospital.
As UFP, we call upon the authorities to ban the use of spikes. We realise some vehicles like kombis have been banned from our roads but this does not justify the use of spikes that leads to the death of innocent people
The UFP urges the Zimbabwean government ensure that only trained traffic officers are deployed to deal with unruly drivers on the roads.
There is no way we can have improperly trained police details dealing with traffic offenders on our roads.
As a party, we are irked that some members of our police service have abandoned the key values of professionalism that are a component of their work ethic. Instead, they have become callous and uncaring.
Traditionally, the police have always been protectors but when they do not hesitate to throw spikes at a moving vehicle, endangering people's lives, then this is a departure from the values that define policing.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police says it is a people-oriented police service provider that seeks to maintain law and order towards the socio-economic development of the people and one of its objectives is to reduce traffic accidents.
But when some of the members of the police service contribute to accidents by throwing spikes at moving vehicles, there is need to read the riot act.
A responsible and professional Police Service should protect the public as per their service charter and not to cause the loss of the lives of the very people they are meant to protect.
As we speak today, we have bodies of victims of police spikes lying in the mortuary while some are in excruciating pain in hospital.
As UFP, we call upon the authorities to ban the use of spikes. We realise some vehicles like kombis have been banned from our roads but this does not justify the use of spikes that leads to the death of innocent people
The UFP urges the Zimbabwean government ensure that only trained traffic officers are deployed to deal with unruly drivers on the roads.
There is no way we can have improperly trained police details dealing with traffic offenders on our roads.
Source - UFP
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