Africa-Press – Uganda. Increasingly, police personnel on the road have been caught up in dangerous situations that threaten to derail their work of maintaining traffic law and order.
There were at least three attacks on traffic police this week, in which panga-wielding thugs cut or attempted to hack officers on duty.
On Monday, a police officer was killed at a roadblock while the attackers made off with guns on the Kampala-Gulu highway. These incidents and similar cases in the past portray the growing risk to life for traffic police officers.
To start with, there should be more and heavier deterrents for attempting to harm police on duty. Secondly, the force ought to review its field operations, taking care to assess risk to officers deployed in different locations and suitably equipping officers on duty to respond to arising threats.
While Uganda police have done a commendable job on operations such as the road safety campaign Fika Salama, the location of checkpoints in isolated areas and where there is no other security establishment within reasonable responding distance, leaves law enforcement officers not only exposed but an easy target for criminal elements that are terrorising citizens elsewhere.
Care should also be taken to ensure that where roadblocks are located, there are no other hazards on the road which could result in road crashes or injury to officers on duty.
An appraisal of such deployment to evaluate the quantity and benefits from the field units may help to guide future operations and curb potential for rogue elements staging their own roadblocks and checkpoints to rob the general public.
Setting up checkpoints in isolated areas is not only risky for the personnel manning them, but it also endangers drivers and creates opportunities for criminals to arrest and torture citizens far away from rescue.
With the evolution in type of threats present on the road, security ought to evolve to provide a backup response plan for lone traffic or security teams operating in the field. Better communications between teams and stations as well as support from mobile patrols and any other protective measures would go a long way in responding to this emerging threat.
It is of great concern that police are being targeted for the guns they hold.
More needs to be done not only to keep the officers out of harm’s way but also keep guns from falling into the wrong hands.
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
