COP Manly Awini, ACP Laurencia Wilhelmina Akorli and Dr. Dominique Wisler in a group photograph with the district commanders and some inspectors and chief inspectors from Accra Region.
The police administration, in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), has started training district police commanders on the concept of community policing.
This is aimed at equipping the officers to better manage the concept when it is finally rolled out within the various districts commands.
The police administration plans to set community policing units across all districts in the country.
This move is to serve as a link between the law enforcement department and the public.
At the opening of a training course, organised for some district commanders in Accra, the Director General In charge Of the National Patrols Department, COP Paul Manly Awini, said the service is embarking on this transformation agenda to position the service as the most respected institution in Ghana and as a reference point for the rest of the world.
He said, to be the most respected institution in Ghana, is a vision which is not achieved on a silver platter.
“It can only be attained through intended actions on the part of the administration and you personnel.
“We must do the right things at the right time to gain back the respect and confidence the public had in us,” he said.
He said policing is a shared responsibility between the police and the public, and if the police must succeed and make Ghana the most peaceful place on continent, then the police must draw closer to the public.
He thanked the German government, through GIZ, for their assistance in training personnel.
COP Awini urged the senior police officers to get in touch with the people in their communities, interact with them, and try to address their concerns, as a way of winning back their trust.
The Country Manager in charge of police programme at the GIZ, Philip Neihenke, in an address, said in 2019 the German Federal Foreign Office invited Ghana to become part of its programme to build and strengthen police structures in selected African countries.
“Ghana accepted the invitation and is now one of nine African countries and two international organisations benefiting from this cooperation.”
He said community policing is one of the demands made by the service from GIZ, which is “to support in the development of a community policing strategy and its implementation.”
Present at the event were the Director in charge of community policing, ACP Laurencia Wilhelmina Akorli, and Dr. Dominique Wisler, a facilitator.
BY Linda Tenyah-Ayettey