The government of Northern Bahr el Ghazal state and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) concluded two days of roundtable discussions Friday and Saturday aimed at strengthening the role of community policing in crime detection and prevention.
The meetings in Aweil town included more than 30 participants from the South Sudan National Police Service, the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces, traditional authorities, judges and civil society organizations.
Deng Majak Deng, the state’s director of legal administration, praised the national Ministry of Interior for establishing Police Community Relations Committees to monitor early signs of crime at the state, county, payam and boma levels.
“We are applauding the Ministry of Interior for establishing the Police Community Relations Committee,” Deng told Radio Tamazuj on Saturday. “The body is a supporting unit for the police in detecting concealed crimes.”
He said the discussions, chaired by Gov. Charles Madut Akol, focused on how to form the committees to prevent crime.
Sergeant Karima Abdallah, a female investigator at the Special Protection Unit in Aweil, said she and her colleagues are committed to treating accused persons properly.
“We are recommitting ourselves to carry out investigations in a good manner,” Abdallah said. “We are directed to be friendly with accused persons and if they are troubled, we will use flexible approaches to allow them to give us the information without using violence against them.”
Barnaba Bol Yum, a representative of the Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Human Rights Commission, commended the collaboration between the state government and its partners.
“If there is collaboration between the government and partners, this spirit indicates that the country is progressing and people’s rights are protected,” Yum said. “On behalf of the state human rights commission, we are happy for such engagements.”