According to Divaldo Martins, who spoke about "Police, Investigation and Justice" in a colloquium called "Youth in Action", the very characteristics of Luanda do not facilitate the police operation because "the city is dark, disorderly and generates fear".
"Now, are we talking about crime or fear of crime? We are probably talking more about fear of crime than about crime", he said, lamenting the conditions in which police officers work daily.
Sub-commissioner Divaldo Martins said that the province of Luanda currently has 21,000 staff and around 200 police units, "insufficient" numbers to respond to the demand of more than eight million inhabitants, as he said, the number of vehicles available to the police.
"If people knew, for example, the number of vehicles that the province of Luanda has, probably people who have more than one car could take one to offer us", he said.
Because, he stressed, "when we go to the Constitution we see that public security is a duty of the State, yes", but, he observed, "it is also a duty of the citizen and what is missing is citizen participation".
According to Divaldo Martins, there are some misunderstandings regarding the role of the police, given its reality: "Despite our problems and mistakes, there are more heroes in the police than bad ones".
"I doubt, with the exception of the unemployed, that anyone could do [the work that the police do daily], earning what they earn", he commented.
"In other words, few people would accept to do, with the exception of the unemployed, the work that the police do daily from Cabinda to Cunene", he noted.
To argue his position, Divaldo Martins said that the police "are under great social and economic pressure".
The number of unemployed, "a country completely indebted" and hence the closure of companies are factors, which in the official's opinion, "impact on crime", whose responsibility for its resolution "is attributed to the corporation".
"Crime - Causes and Consequences" was the theme of the third panel of this colloquium, promoted in Luanda by Ufolo - Center for Studies on Good Governance - chaired by journalist and activist Rafael Marques.
