Police officers questioned after mattresses go missing from CPS detention rooms

Beds inside the juvenile detention rooms at Agago Central Police Station have remained without mattresses after they were reportedly stolen by thieves. COURTESY PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • Beds inside the juvenile detention rooms at Agago Central Police Station have remained without mattresses after they were reportedly stolen by thieves.
  • Last year, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) operating in Agago District, according to Police, donated a total of 12 mattresses that were enough for the six beds inside the boys' room and the same number for the girls' room.
  • Juvenile offenders under detention at police cells and those serving sentences at rehabilitation homes upon conviction are supposed to be provided decent beds with mattresses.

Beds inside the juvenile detention rooms at Agago Central Police Station have remained without mattresses after they were reportedly stolen by thieves.

Last year, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) operating in Agago District, according to Police, donated a total of 12 mattresses that were enough for the six beds inside the boys' room and the same number for the girls' room.

Juvenile offenders under detention at police cells and those serving sentences at rehabilitation homes upon conviction are supposed to be provided decent beds with mattresses.

There were 12 beds with mattresses in both male and female juvenile rooms (three double-decked beds in each room) but not a single mattress can be seen now and the juvenile suspects now sleep on the metallic rails of the bed.

Police, meanwhile told the NGO officials who toured the facility that the mattresses were stolen by suspects on detention.

The response later sparked queries on how the suspects/juvenile offenders would sneak out with materials or equipment from inside the heavily guarded facility.
"It’s very unsatisfactory and interesting that a suspect can steal from inside the police cells without necessarily breaking any entry point and walk out freely without being rearrested," Mr Peter Eceru, a Lutheran World Foundation official who visited the facility wondered.

The Agago Distict Police Commander SP Albert Onyango, told Daily Monitor that the mattresses disappeared from inside the cells one by one until recently when striking students who were held inside the facility stole and vandalized the few that remained.
"These juveniles are very stubborn, they intentionally keep plucking the mattresses while others steal them. For example, we arrested some 8 students who were striking from Patongo SS and the following morning some mattresses disappeared while others were vandalized beyond use," SP Onyango said.

When asked whether police held the students accountable, SP Onyango said that they could not implicate or penalize the students since they were not the first group to vandalize or destroy the mattresses.
"We could not go deep into holding them (students) accountable because they were not the ones who started the vice. They began stealing them (mattresses) before one by one until now that you cannot see any."

Agago CPS detains between five to eight suspects in a day with most of the offenses relating to land matters, files at the station showed.

Clogged toilets
The team also discovered during the inspection that the toilets that are meant to be used by suspects being held at the police station were clogged and rendered useless.

According to SP Onyango, suspects who include men, women and both male and female juveniles now take turns to collect water that is meant for flashing the water-borne toilets.
"Although we endeavor to clean all the toilets inside here regularly, it is true water is a big challenge here. The flash toilets have broken down and now users have to flash manually by collecting water from outside," he added.