Upgrade knowledge to improve competence - Police prosecutors advised
Police prosecutors have been urged to upgrade their knowledge to improve on their professional competence so as to facilitate justice delivery in the country.
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The Deputy Political Chief at the United States (US) Embassy, Mr Navarro Moore, who made the call, said the increasing complexities in global crime, fuelled by the boost in technology, ought to be handled efficiently.
“It is important for police prosecutors to have optimal legal knowledge in prosecution so that they can represent the state well in delivering justice,” he added.
He was speaking at the closing ceremony of the seventh training session on a comprehensive in-service training programme for police prosecutors in Accra.
Initiative
The initiative was under the auspices of the LADA Institute, a subsidiary of Law and Development Associates (LADA), with collaboration from the US Department of States.
The successful completion of the session brings to 350 the total number of police prosecutors who have so far benefited from the month-long programme.
The participants, who were drawn from the 10 regions, acquired skills in areas such as effective cross-examination, mock trial sessions, law of evidence, teamwork and conference with colleagues, and effective communication of facts.
Mr Moore observed that effective police prosecution was essential to the effective dispensing of justice, adding that when the prosecution process was flawed, justice would be injured.
“We have problems with diligence in terms of effective prosecution procedures in the country, the prison system, and the justice sector as a whole.”
The US understands that a weak justice system in Ghana has the tendency to impact negatively on the US. There is, therefore, the need to invest in prosecuting crime here,” he added.
Improvement
An officer at the Prosecuting Unit at the Police Headquarters, Chief Superintendent Benjamin Osei, said there was overwhelming evidence to show that performance of earlier beneficiaries in the previous training sessions had improved.
He urged the beneficiaries to continue to put the knowledge they had acquired to improve justice delivery in the country.
Recommendation
Some of the participants recommended that provision should be made for police investigators to be part of the training sessions, since efficient prosecution depended on diligent investigations.
