Lack of police identification a concern

WINDHOEK, 25 SEP  – Inspector-General of the Namibian Police Force (NamPol), Lieutenant-General Sebastian Ndeitunga has urged police officers to wear name tags at all times as part of their official uniform.
His call came during an interview with Nampa on Monday, when queried over public complaints that some police officers, while on duty do not wear their name tags and refuse to identify themselves upon request.
According to members of the public, some police officers, especially those working at charge offices, sometimes fail to carry out their mandate as required and refuse to avail their names when asked.
Ndeitunga explained that name tags are very important and are compulsory for officers, especially the civil officers as they deal with the public directly on a daily basis.
“Name tags have been mandatory since the inception of the force, it is a culture of the uniform and no uniform is complete without it,” he said.
However, the Inspector-General admitted that some police officers did not receive name tags due to a lack of resources, but said most, especially those working directly with the public, have been issued with the identification.
He added that some officers do not possess name tags anymore, due to negligence through losing or misplacing them.
“But this is not an excuse because by law, they should replace them at their own cost,” he said quickly and emphasised that officers should wear their name tags so that the public can know who they are dealing with at all times.
“No officer is allowed to refuse to give his or her name to a citizen when requested for identification. In such cases where a police officer does not have a name tag, they are required to use their appointment certificate, which every police officer is issued with as form of identification,” explained Ndeitunga.
(NAMPA)