The Police Chief Lieutenant General Josef Shikongo says serious crimes during the festive season are so far relatively low.

Lieutenant General Shikongo also noted that very few road accidents and fatalities have been recorded during the peak of the festive season.

"The strategy the force has been applying is that of community engagement and also focusing on education, because we feel that just enforcing the law to people who may not understand may not really do us very well; therefore, we focused on education to ensure that just before you issue a ticket or a fine to someone, just before you arrest someone, we try community engagement, to educate, and this strategy is working very well."

Though commending holidaymakers across the country for good behaviour and obedience to laws, Lieutenant General Shikongo says the nation needs to join hands to combat crime.

He says the force will, during this year, work to reduce social ills.

The Police Inspector General also emphasised the freedom of the media, promising maximum protection to journalists and easy access to information.

He highlighted the need for stakeholder engagement, which includes both the community and the police.

"It does not help us to only educate the community, but then you have corrupt police officers that do not understand that it is about communicating; to understand that arresting is not the only way of securing attendance in court, you can use other means, and I think that is helping us."

During 2023, crimes such as hijacking, commercial fraud, and kidnapping came strongly on the police radar, and this, Shikongo says, caught the attention of the police.

In relation to kidnapping, the police chief pointed out that in some isolated instances, children who were supposed victims of kidnapping were the masterminds in a bid to extort money from their parents.

"We also came across that some of the children also collaborated with the criminals just to get money; some of them say that my parents are too stingy; they do not want to give money, so I managed with my friends, and we were able to get N$6,000 from them."

Shikongo also revealed that the Force will this year prioritise decent accommodation and mobility for its members and will also focus on improving the capacity of the police through training.