THE police service is now friendlier and has so far managed to work well with the community in combating crime, Police Service spokesperson Lemmy Kajoba has said.

Kajoba said the police had reviewed its five years (1995-2000) development plan for the police reforms and realised they were on course.

He said the units formed under the police reform programme are the establishment of the Victim Support Unit (VSU), the training of police officers in scientific ways of detecting crime and the establishment of a laboratory.

Kajoba told The LRF News the flooding of prisons was a sign the police are doing their job of tracking down criminals.

He said the community has helped the police so much by giving vital information which has helped in solving some of the major criminal cases. He added the community also helped in the establishment of a number of community police posts.

Kajoba said members of the public provided shelter and other logistics that enabled the police to establish posts.

"Although we have done quite well in some areas, it is not the same in others. Even if we have increased the number of police officers doing ordinary duties, we do not have enough equipment to use in our work. We have a lot of financial difficulties which have hampered progress in our strategic plan," he said.

The other thing the police were not able to do is to create a Police Air wing, he said.

He said government is talking positively and plans have reached a high level with technical people coming from Europe to carry out feasibility studies for the air crafts that the police are about to acquire. He said by the end of this year, the police would have established this unit.

He has commended government for its support to the police from the inception of the reform programme. He said government has provided the much-needed transport to the police service by giving them cars.