The police and army said they are dismayed by the news of some officers deployed in the police-led joint crime prevention operation code-named Operation Kalahari Desert unbecoming behaviour.
The acting police chief deputy inspector general Oscar Peter Embubulu told the media in Windhoek on Monday that the unbecoming behaviour perpetrated against members of the public cannot be justified.
Two videos in which some officers are beating and kicking up people went viral on social media.
One incident shows a man being led from a Golf Sedan. The incident is said to have happened on 2 January 2020 at Goreangab area in Katutura in Windhoek.
According to the police, preliminary investigation showed that the man had been seen driving recklessly and flashing lights at the members of the operation on patrol in the area.
The police also said that the man spun his car around and bumped one officer in the process.
“After spinning the vehicle,” the acting police chief deputy inspector general Oscar Peter Embubulu told the media in Windhoek. “he allegedly lowered his window, revved the engine excessively, showed his middle finger to the members and continued spinning before he drove off.”
The second video, the deputy inspector general said, involved a white Nissan Tiida taxi. He said the incident happened on 9 January 2020 at the intersection of Florence Nightingale and Hans Dietrich Genscher streets in Khomasdal.
“Six male adults were seen hurriedly boarding the taxi. This raised the suspicion by the patrol team that was approaching in a vehicle. In pursuance of investigating the suspicious circumstances, the patrol vehicle drove past the taxi and proceeded further along the Hans-Dietrich Genscher Street to intercept the taxi near Gateway Centre.
“As anticipated, the overloaded taxi followed along the same street and when the driver saw the patrol team, he made an abrupt u-turn on a solid barrier line. The patrol team then pursued the taxi,” he said.
Embubulu added that when the taxi stopped, one of the passengers got out and started running. The officers chased and caught up with him.
Two of the passengers, he said, were questioned found to have been involved in robbery cases in the past.
However, the deputy inspector general said that it is against then law and the regulations for the law enforcement officers to assault, violate and or manhandle people even those committing offences.
“Irrespective of the circumstances, the use of force by law enforcement officers may only be permissible in circumstances of self-defence or to overcome resistance by a suspect during a lawful arrest,” He said.
Embubulu said the police inspector-general Sebastian Ndeitunga and the acting defence force chief air vice-marshal Martin Pinehas have ordered that the incidences should be investigated.
“In as much as we do not entertain unbecoming conduct by law enforcers, we also do not condone nor tolerate any act of violence, disrespect or demeaning gestures being made against the soldiers and then police officers while in the execution of their duties.
“We, therefore, urge the public to cooperate and treat them with respect. These officers work tirelessly to ensure that the streets are cleared of criminals and that safety and security are guaranteed at all times,” he said.
