The Acting Minister of Defence, Justice and Security Mr Edwin Jenamiso Batshu has commended the Botswana Police Service (BPS) for reducing the incidence of some crimes.

Speaking at the official opening of the BPS 40th Annual Senior Officers Conference in Gaborone recently Mr Batshu said that the Botswana Police managed to reduce corporate targeted offences by 21 percent. These offences include; robbery, burglary and theft, house breaking, and store breaking and theft.

He however, said the overall crime remains very high and a source of frustration for many Batswana, attributing this to sophistication of crime.

He advised police management to conduct an open and honest dialogue in which they would be able to assess their strategies and identify deficiencies and close performance gaps.

He also praised the organization for taking into consideration the President’s call to reduce road fatalities at last year’s conference, which has been reduced by 16% this year.

The Acting Minister said he was happy to have the chance to view the organization as an ordinary citizen after serving in it for 37years as this has awarded him an opportunity to understand why Batswana still complain of the high levels of crime.

The five-day conference was attended by amongst others Branch Commanders and District Unit Commanders from across the country.