By A Correspondent- Police have stepped up their blitz on criminal activities in central Harare, carrying out evening and night patrols to make the city safer.

Special attention is being paid to hotspots of drug dealing, bootlegging and gambling.

Pavements around the car park at the former Ximex Mall, commuter omnibus ranks at Copacabana and Market Square, and the area around Roadport had become dangerous.

Acting Harare Provincial Community Relations Liaison Officer Assistant Inspector Webster Dzvova said police were winning the war and more arrests had been made since last week.

Some of those arrested paid deposit fines while others, suspected of more serious offences, will be appearing in court soon.

On the first day of the blitz on November 25, more than 250 people were arrested for a wide range of offences.

“The operation is an ongoing exercise and we will not rest until there is order and sanity in Harare,” he said.

Asst Insp Dzvova said police were aware that most illegal activities occurred during the evening and at night. So more officers were being deployed at these times.

“Criminals always change tactics. If they see us in full operation during the day, they will simply go underground and resurface in the evening or during the night. We are aware of that trend and we are now deploying more officers to patrol during the night so that our town remains peaceful at all times.”

But police want more help from the public, and in particular want to know when criminals congregate and where.

“We call upon members of the public to work with us, to provide us with information on any place where criminal activities are taking place. We must help each other to make Harare a crime free zone where everyone is safe and at peace.

“The public should not hesitate to contact us on our various platforms with information that will contribute to the eradication of crime in our lovely city,” he said.

-StateMedia