IGP cuts sod for new PIPS offices
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, yesterday cut the sod for the commencement of the construction of a permanent office block for the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards (PIPS) Directorate.
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The one-storey facility, with 12 offices, is expected to provide sufficient office accommodation for effective delivery of services by PIPS.
It is estimated that the edifice, which will share the same premises with the Nima Police, will cost GHc858,225.75.
The directorate, which has since its inception been working in an old bungalow at Asylum Down in Accra, is an internal mechanism to address misconduct and ensure professionalism in the Ghana Police Service.
Professionalism in police
Before cutting the sod, Mr Alhassan said in 2013, more than 100 policemen and officers were dismissed for various acts of misconduct, while from 2014 to date 294 personnel had received various forms of sanctions.
“The Police Administration must be commended for its zero tolerance for acts of misconduct,” he said, adding that the administration was committed to ensuring professionalism in all policing activities.
“We arrest our own when they engage in criminal conduct, investigate them and put them before court when there is evidence,” he said.
Mr Alhassan said in spite of the envisaged formation of an Independent Police Complaint Commission (IPCC), “the police will still need PIPS for its internal disciplinary mechanism”.
The IPCC, which would act as a police watchdog, he said, would handle complaints made against the police, investigate serious cases such as death of a suspect in police custody and shootings of persons by policemen.
“The IPCC does not oust the power and authority of the police as an institution to maintain an internal complaints unit to address matters of misconduct and professionalism, thereby ensuring discipline in the police,” he said.
Cases handled
The Director General of PIPS, Commissioner of Police (COP) Ms Joanah Osei-Poku, said the directorate had a problem with office accommodation.
The new block, when completed, she said, would offer a congenial environment for clients and make PIPS more accessible to the public.
She said in 2013 and 2014, the directorate received 1,880 cases, many of them relating to the unprofessional handling of cases, unfair treatment and undue delay of investigations.
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