Police has warned assailants that could be tempted to attack police officers with intentions to steal their arms that “ruthless force” will be used against them.
The statement was made Monday by the Police Spokesperson AIGP Asan Kasingye at a news conference in the wake of an incident over the weekend in Kalerwe, Kampala which two police officers were shot dead and their guns stolen.
Hours before the killing of the two officers, another incident had occured in which unknown assailants attacked Mponye police post in Kabalagala a city suburb and stabbed an police officer in the neck. The criminals took off with a gun.
Asked to comment on the increasing attack on officers of the Uganda Police Force, AIGP Kasingye said; “I want to assure Ugandans that this business of attacking police officers or stations will be answered in the same way. We are not a soft target. Those guns are not given to us for decoration.”
He said that Ugandans should rest assured that the police will protect itself and the public, adding that “our resolve is even stronger”.
“Those who try to do it must stop and will be answered in an even more ruthless way,” the Police spokesperson noted.
In regard to the appropriate response provided for in the law in cases where there is an attempt to steal a gun from a police officer, he said police is required to use ‘reasonable force’ to counter force applied by the opposite party.
“Reasonable force is defined in the Police Act as that force that is propositional to the force used against you. For example, if somebody came with a gun and I used a baton, would that be reasonable?” he told journalists.
“What we don’t want is for our officers to use excessive force like cases of torture and killing unarmed civilians.”
“But you saw how our colleague [AIGP Andrew Kaweesi] was killed with 80 shots directed at his car. Had he used his gun to defend himself, would you say his response was unreasonable?”
He was hesitant to divulge details on how the police will safeguard its officers, saying it will be addressed internally.