Police to increase visibility, accessibility
The Ghana Police Service has started putting the requisite measures in place to increase their visibility and accessibility in the public in order to combat all manner of crime and any disturbances.
Advertisement
As part of the measures, schedule officers have been interacting with regional and district police commanders across the country to brief them on the need not only to make the presence of the police felt in public places but also make themselves readily available to the public at all times.
The Director-General, Technical of the Ghana Police Service, Commissioner Of Police (COP) Frank Adu Poku, who briefed the Daily Graphic on their operations when he paid a working visit to the Ashanti Region, explained that “ the visibility and accessibility of the police at public places also form part of the Inspector-General’s policy of containing the menace of robbery and other criminal activities in various parts of the country”.
The Kumasi Metropolis, the Obuasi Municipality, Manso Nkwanta, Mampong, Effiduase, Konongo, and Agogo, among others, were some of the places that COP Adu Poku visited and held a series of meetings with senior officers and junior ranks in the service.
The working visit, which took a week, also offered a platform for COP Adu Poku to introduce himself to the Ashanti Regional Police Command as the schedule officer in charge of the region.
It again offered him the opportunity to explain the concept of visibility and accessibility of the police to the officers .
He said the concept was not new to the police service, but had been downplayed over the years, hence the need to revitalise it to enhance crime detection and combat.
“ With this concept we are determined to build the confidence of policemen more meaningfully to enhance crime detection and combat and also put more policemen on the street to make them easily accessible to the general public,” COP Adu Poku explained during the interview.
He said the morale of policemen in the country was soaring by the day and assured all of their preparedness to promote the peace being enjoyed in the country.
He said already, the Inspector General of Police, Mr Muhamed Ahmed Alhassan, had paid a visit to the region to brief some officers about the concept .
He, therefore, expressed the hope that with its implementation, criminal activities in some parts of the region would reduce considerably, making it possible for law-abiding citizens to carry on with their economic ventures.
He said a number of constructional works were ongoing to provide the requisite accommodation to and also provide them with the requisite accoutrements that would enhance effective and meaningful policing across the country.
On the menace of the galamsey operations causing so much destruction to the environment, destroying rivers , food and cash crops, as well as forest reserves, COP Adu Poku said the police would only get involved when the need arose.
He said they would also not lower their guards on Fulani herdsmen who were indulging in robbery, explaining that while some of the Fulani herdsmen were focusing on their core businesses, others had ventured into robbery.
While urging the media to criticise the operations of the police service, he said such criticism should be positive to enhance their operations.
He said the media should, however, refrain from negative criticisms designed to demoralise their operations.
By George Ernest Asare