Lakari: Courts should jail drunks

By ELIAS LARI
ENGA provincial police commander Supt Martin Lakari is suggesting the court system in the country impose jail sentences on drunkards and people found in possession of alcohol.
He said that would make it easier for police to control and reduce alcohol-related problems.
Lakari said when police confronted drunkards, people later complained of police brutality.
“The courts must give such people, who are caught drinking alcohol in public places or acting in a disorderly manner, a custodial sentence and that will help police to deal with them.
“We cannot arrest drunkards, send them to jail for six or seven hours and then release them and the next day the person is caught, again acting in the same manner in public places.”
Lakari said the law was not that tough and that was why people were still walking away freely and repeating the offences.
He said according to the law, people must not drink alcohol in public places and the penalty must be tough so that a person caught once,  would not repeat it.
Lakari said police were playing their part by making sure no drunkard caused disturbances in public places.
He said alcohol was one of the major problems people faced every day and it stirred up social problems that affected many people.