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On The Prowl
They prowl the
empty streets at night…waiting… in fast cars and on foot…living with
crime and violence…
For anyone
growing up around the 70’s in southern Africa, they would surely
have listened to Squad Cars on Springbok Radio on a Friday evening,
which started with the above quote. But today in Zambia, we have
them prowling the streets and the shopping centres, day and night,
in white Corollas and on foot, and they are not crime busters, but
rather the perpetrators of crimes, ready to pounce on unsuspecting
law-abiding citizens. And they all have a different modus operandi.
First is a group
(or multiple groups) in either a white or grey or cream Corolla or a
dark blue Golf type vehicle who are posing variously as officials
from the Office of the President, the Anti-Corruption Commission or
the Road Traffic Commission. They generally try to pull you over
saying you have committed a traffic offence and that you need to
proceed to the police station and that you can be arrested for the
offence. They will then tell you to stop in a quiet roadside where
they will proceed to intimidate you and eventually extract all the
money from your purse or pocket. In some cases, they have even
accompanied their victims to the ATM machine where they have
extracted more money.
The second is a
Zambian male, aged about 40-ish, height about 5'7", weight about 170
lbs, head not shaved and no glasses, very neatly dressed, very well
spoken and very polite. He is "on the job" at shopping malls and
fuel stations in Lusaka. He seems to target single white ladies
(although we have one report of a white male being taken) and
introduces himself by name (Mr Mwanza in my case and also in the
case of two of my friends) and speaks of having met you at
Immigration, or if that fails, the Road Traffic Commission and could
he borrow K 300,000. He is very plausible and very good at his job
and very smoothly relieved a friend of both her cell phone and
purse. When he approached me, I promptly told him that being a
Zambian citizen, he had not met me at Immigration and he very
politely took his leave. But what further could I do : shouting for
the police would do no good as he had not (yet) committed any crime.
The third is an
outright thief who has stationed himself where the railway line
crosses the road just north of Kafue. As you slow down to cross the
railway line at night, he will jump on the back of your open vehicle
and relieve you of the goods there. In our case it was a welding
machine and thanks to the flashing of lights by the driver of the
vehicle behind us, his attempt failed.
A few tips on how
to prevent being conned by our mobile imposters:
If you find
someone trying to wave you over, drive immediately to the closest
police post or police station. Do not stop. Our pseudo
Police/Anti-Corruption/Road Traffic officers seem quite happy
operating in broad daylight and in busy places, unlike the normal
thief. Thus be on your guard at all times, not only at night or in
lonely places.
Most of their
victims have been conned immediately after committing a minor
trasffic offence. This immediately puts you at a psychological
disadvantage. You need to know your rights : that you don’t have
to pay an on-the-spot fine, that you cannot be arrested for doing a
U-turn and so on.
Keep your doors locked and your windows closed (or mostly closed so
that they cannot get their arms in) at all times. And if you do make
the mistake of stopping, do not let them enter the vehicle, do not
give them the keys or your cell phone
Have your cell phone with enough battery and enough talktime with
you and have numbers in the phone of someone who you can call who
will be able to give you advice and get help if necessary
If guns are involved, then you have no other choice but to do what
they demand. But in all the reported cases guns were not involved.
The police also have their part to play. The public need to know
whether:
There are traffic police officers who operate in plain
clothes?
Police Officers on duty use private cars for controlling traffic?
Police Officers are allowed to take away cell phones, car keys?
Are they allowed to enter your vehicle and are they allowed to drive
it?
I
would say the answer to all of these is no.
All successful and unsuccessful attempts at robbery should be
reported immediately to the police station, and it would be helpful
if good descriptions of the vehicle (with the registration number)
were available as well as how many people were in the car and
descriptions of these people. If you have a camera on your cell
phone , photos would also be good if the opportunity arises. Again:
Don’t stop!
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July
2007