Emalahleni - Police officers in Mpumalanga have been warned not to tamper with crime information, including statistics at their stations to enhance their performance.
"Police stations must ensure that they record crime incidences accurately because falsifying or interfering with crime information could make government not to plan accordingly and allocate resources appropriately," said Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC, Sibongile Manana.
The MEC was responding to people's concerns at a recent Safety and Security Imbizo. One of the concerns raised was that some police officers did not give case numbers and other relevant information to complainants.
Residents said police officers constantly misplaced their dockets and were unable to provide feedback to the complainants on the progress of their cases.
Manana urged the community to ensure that when they open a case, they should not leave the station without getting a case number.
She said it was their constitutional right to be given sufficient information by the police regarding their cases.
Another concern, raised by community members, was that the Phola Township in Ogies wanted their own police station since the Ogies Police Station was too far from them and when they needed assistance, the police were unable to respond immediately.
Responding to the concerns from community members, police provincial crime investigations departmental Head, Director Tony Gama said that police officers should work and stop colluding with criminals and those who do not want to work should leave the service.
Gama called on the community to report any wrong doing on the part of the police so that the office of the provincial commissioner could take appropriate steps against officials not doing their work.
