Police herald ‘Operation Father Christmas’ with endurance march
Police personnel in the Greater Accra Region yesterday went on an endurance march through the principal streets of Accra to highlight their preparedness to protect the public in the run up to, during and after the Christmas festivities.
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The exercise was a preparation towards this year’s ‘Operation Father Christmas’ mounted by the Police Service to intensify security during the festive season.
Operation Father Christmas, which commenced in 2010, is used to roll out security arrangements to ensure an incident-free Christmas.
Led by the Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Christian Tetteh Yohuno, more than 200 police personnel took part in the three-hour exercise, which took them through the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, the Evans Atta Mills High Street, the Accra Polytechnic and Osu and ended at the Police Headquarters.
Some of the police personnel were in armoured vehicles, as well as visibility and patrol vehicles.
Dealing with criminals
Addressing the personnel and the press at the end of the march, Mr Yohuno indicated that as part of the arrangement, district and divisional commanders had been directed to organise raids at the hideouts of criminals in their vicinities and clear the streets of criminals.
He said police patrol and visibility were also expected to increase in the coming days to ensure that the police were almost everywhere.
The markets, malls, banks and residential locations, he said, were some of the places where security would be tightened, adding “We will make it hard for criminals to operate within this time.”
Mr Yohuno also served notice that DV number plates and commercial motorbikes, also known as “Okada”, would not be tolerated during the operation and, therefore, warned users.
He advised that anyone who had the intention of withdrawing huge sums of money from the bank should do so with protection from the police to ensure safety.
That, he said, was necessary because criminals were now trailing people from the banks on motorbikes and unregistered vehicles to rob them of their money.
Considering the fact that the police could not be everywhere to protect everyone, he said vital information to the police from the public was very important.
Security tips
Giving some security tips, the regional commander advised individuals not to fight with criminals when the latter attacked them.
“When you hear an unusual noise in a neighbour’s house, it is important to call the police to come around,” he advised.
He said individuals could also call the police to escort them to their residents if they felt insecure to use certain routes.
He urged the public to make good use of the police toll free and emergency numbers.