Increase in penalty for summary offence, good news

THE increase in penalty for summary offences is long overdue and welcome news.
This increase in penalties has been long talked about for the various offences like drunk and disorderly, graffiti-writing, driving a vehicle at night without lights, and the latest one being exploding fireworks in public places.
All these now come under the Summary Offences Act (2017) and it is expected to assist district courts and people to charge offenders accordingly and curb increasing crime rates in the country.
The amendment, as what Justice Minister Davis Steven says, is to reinforce law and order in the country, restore police confidence and deter offenders, and encourage the general public to formally lay their complaints to the relevant law-enforcement authorities
The incidence of crime is said to be on the rise in the country, with everyone concerned working overtime to have it addressed.
We now hope that the penalties are applied so the public see it as a deterrent and that the authorities are serious about promoting a trouble-free community.
The challenge now is for the police to arrest the offenders, put the paperwork together swiftly and show the evidence so the court can sentence the offenders accordingly.
The amendment also ensures that the work and decisions of the law-enforcement agencies do not infringe on the basic rights or freedoms of citizens as protected in the Constitution.
District court magistrates and police have raised growing concerns over the increase in violence and disorderly behaviour which are fueling the rise in indictable offences.
The efforts of Police Commissioner Gari Baki and his commanders to address law and order must be commended, even with the limited resources that they have. The various programmes launched by police and its line agencies to fight crime are there, but what good is a grand plan without funding?
Where we have leaders who have the vision to make a difference, there must be support in terms of logistics and funding.
These officers and many others should be supported by way of ensuring funding is allocated to see through the plan.
The penalties of the act are categorised into four different levels, ranging from trivial summary offences to very serious summary offences.
The amendment provides for a new minimum fine of K1000 and/or three months imprisonment.
The maximum penalty will be a fine of K4000 and/or two years imprisonment.
The time limitation of six months will be repealed and replaced with one year.
Police must be adequately funded to make arrests and the officers must know what is required of them before an offender is charged under the Act.
For now, what needs to be seen is a successful rate of prosecuted cases. Collaboration is the way forward to address this issue.
The Government is more focused in making the change to deal with law and order issues by introducing tougher penalties. While it is workable, the danger is that the result may be temporary.
Therefore, the Government should take a more proactive approach.
It should collaborate with all stakeholders to make it work.
Unless the people are empowered and transformed, the tougher penalties maybe just on paper but not translate into reality.