Police annual report of 2022 depicts violence
While releasing the report the IGP J.M. Okoth-Ochola said it was a form of accountability to the public.
“It is my pleasure to present the Uganda Police Force Annual Crime Report for 2022 as a form of accountability to the population on how the Uganda Police Force is fulfilling its mandate as stipulated under Article 212 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda. In 2022, we note that there was an 18% increase in the number of crimes reported to Police from 196,081 cases reported in 2021 to 231,653 cases mainly due to the full opening of the economy after the Covid-19 lockdown and growing confidence to report crime to Police,” the IGP stated.
The report further shows that out of the total cases reported to Police in 2022, 68,405 cases were taken to Court, 26,749 cases were not proceeded with, while 136,499 cases were still under inquiry. This was an improvement compared to 2021 where 65,008 cases were taken to Court, 60,095 cases not proceeded with and 70,978 cases under inquiries. This reflects a great improvement in cases taken to Court by 5.2%.
According to the report there was a 35% increase in common traffic offences registered by the Directorate of Traffic and Road Safety countrywide from 336,722 cases in 2021 to 456,993 cases in 2022. As a result, the number of road traffic crashes increased by 16.9% from 17,443 in 2021 to 20,394 in 2022 where 3,901 crashes were fatal, 10,776 were serious while 5,717 were minor by nature.
Mbu in the period under review, police focus has been on improving the quality of services we offer to the public in terms of enhanced law and order, engagement of communities through community policing programmes, capacity building, and developing the initial phase of digitalising our processes for purposes of easing detection, reporting, tracking, supervision and analysis of crime trends. The management of UPF has also focused on improving the welfare of personnel especially in terms of accommodation to enhance performance.
Ochola thanked the entire Police fraternity for keeping the country safe. He also conveyed his gratitude to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, other Security Agencies, JLOS Partners, the Media and the general public for their continued support in fighting crime. On a special note, he registered his sincere appreciation to H.E. The President of the Republic of Uganda for the continuous guidance and support to the Uganda Police Force in fighting crime.
Finally, Ochola urged all Ugandans to continue the fight against crime for a safer Uganda. As he released the Police Annual Crime Report for 2022, he assured the public that in 2023, the focus will be to remodel their process to support the Sub county Policing model, welfare enhancement and digitalisation of their processes for enhanced law and order.