Police to receive more logistics from government — Dery

The Ghana Police Service is to receive more than 100 new vehicles, in line with the government’s desire to resource the service, to enable it to meet standards in modern policing.

The vehicles are an addition to the over 200 pickups, motorbikes and other logistics that the service had been provided with already.

The Interior Minister, Mr Ambrose Dery, announced this in Accra when he opened the annual two-day workshop for crime officers.

In addition, he said the President had announced an extra budgetary allocation of GH¢800 million for the service.

This year’s Crime Officers Workshop is on the theme: “Moving to become a World Class Police Organisation — The role of Crime Officers”.

Other units

Mr Dery said the government had further provided vehicles and other logistics to the Formed Police Unit for its operations, and to ensure that the service was better equipped to perform its duties creditably.

He said the President was giving consideration to restructuring the CID in conformity with the transformation agenda, to make it the best on the continent.

The Interior Minister gave an assurance that the government would do all within its power to provide the CID and the Ghana Police Service in general with the required logistics.

He noted that crime had become diverse  with growing sophistication such that criminals at times outsmarted the police and other security agencies using deft and tactics to cover their activities and thereby making it difficult for the police to connect them to the crimes they commit.

Timely workshop

Mr Dery said the workshop was, therefore, timely, coming at a period when the Ghana Police Service had shown commitment to improve on its performance through innovation and technology in the handling of crime and crime related issues.

“Knowledge is the foundation for establishing objectives and accomplishing goals. Without knowledge, one will be ineffective, unproductive and unable to accomplish tasks at the workplace,” he said.

He pointed out that law enforcement was no exception and, therefore, police officers had to be solid in knowledge and be committed to themselves, their institutions and their communities in order to effectively enforce the law and manage investigations.

“As crime officers who supervise investigations and analyse crime trends, it is important that you continue to upgrade and update your knowledge and skills in the trade craft,” he urged.

He said it was heart warming to know that crime had reduced in recent times and urged the officers not to rest on their oars but to work hard to improve on security in the country.

He further encouraged them not to relent in ensuring that the society was safe and secure.

IGP

For his part, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr David Asante Apeatu, said policing was anchored on managing crime and told the police personnel that as crime officers, their role in the transformational agenda was very important.

He said when crime was virtually absent in the communities, it indicated that policing was effective and efficient, while a rise in crime cases connoted a sign of poor crime prevention.

“Every police officer irrespective of his/her department is supposed to have a crime prevention mentality and “the onus lies on those who are specifically trained as detectives,” the IGP stressed.

CID boss

The Director General of the CID, DCOP Mrs Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, described the theme for this year’s workshop as very opportune.

She said the theme was timely and appropriate because the service was undergoing transformation to become one of the best police organisations in the world, and in that respect, each police officer had a role to play.

DCOP Addo-Danquah said the recent Supreme Court ruling on disclosing information to accused persons was a wake-up call for all to ensure that case dockets were built well and to the highest standards.

“That calls for us to follow established protocols, especially with regard to electronic evidence,” she advised.

She, therefore, urged the participants to effectively supervise their subordinates by participating and inspecting all case dockets, as well as provide quality leadership and managerial skills by developing a high level of emotional intelligence.