Mams residents told to sober up before laying any charges
People lay charges and later want to withdraw them when they are sober.
A police spokesperson said complainants should sober up before they go to their local police station to lay any charges.
“Only serious cases will be opened at the station,” police spokesperson Captain Johannes Maheso told Rekord.
“We want to inform community members that we are no longer going to open any cases for people who are drunk,” he said.
“They must come to the station when they are sober.”
Maheso was expressing Mamelodi police’s concern about the number of cases reported over weekends, which are later withdrawn.
He said they are simply “wasting time and the state’s resources” because “the officers who must deal with these cases could attend to serious, real cases elsewhere”.
Maheso said when many charges are laid, the people are often drunk and upset.
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“After sobering up and resolving their issues, the complainants want to come back and withdraw the cases.”
He said many of these cases were people who had been fighting at shebeens.
“They must first think hard before opening a case against anyone and lastly, if you are drunk, go and sleep and sober up.”
Once a case is opened and captured in the database – withdrawn or not – the case will fall under the crime stats.
Another issue, he added, is the amount of time spent on dropped charges.
It could take up to 30 minutes to help the complainant and at least 15 minutes to capture the case on the data system for a case number.
“This is unacceptable – they are adding to the crime stats because it can not be removed once is reported to the station.
“We are not saying ‘do not come to the station to lay charges’ but think about it carefully before opening a case,” said Maheso.
Maheso said police will hold public meetings to inform residents as well as tavern owners of the issue.
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