The police at Siloam have embarked on a “Safety in Schools” campaign in order to prevent situations where pupils harm, hurt or kill one another or educators at centres of learning.

The police teamed up with the Department of Correctional Services, Victim Empowerment and the Community Policing Forum and paid several schools unannounced visits. They searched the pupils and confiscated laptops, cell phones and knives.

According to the spokesperson for the Siloam police, W/O Edward Tharaga, the station wanted to fight and eliminate all criminal elements in the schools and among the youths.

“We don't want to wait until our children harm or kill one another in the schools,” he said. “Pupils are exposed to a world of alcohol and drug abuse and as such we want to eliminate all those elements from among them. We believe that the police's duty is not to sit in our offices and wait for victims of crime to come to report crimes. As law-enforcers and the force that has been mandated to ensure peace and safety in our society, we will never wait until we have confiscated all weapons from our children in the schools.”

A school principal, who cannot be named to protect the identities of the pupils who were found in possession of illegal and prohibited items, said that they appreciated the police's cooperation in the quest for safety in schools. “It is a fact that teachers alone cannot manage to maintain safety in schools,” she said. “Just imagine if the school has nearly a 1 000 pupils - who has to search all of them one by one? Will we ever get any time to teach them? It is also the parents' duty to make sure that they monitor their children closely. Sometimes it is also good to take a child's bag and look if there are no any illegal items.”

A 14-year-old pupil said that he supported the police's operation. “I see nothing wrong in being searched because you will never know what some of us have inside our schoolbags,” he said. “The police's visibility in schools encourages a safe environment for us all. We need to feel safe in our schools.”