IGP David Asante Apeatu
As part of the ongoing transformation agenda in the Ghana Police Service (GPS), the training regimen of recruits and cadet officers will be reviewed with a view to enhancing civilian/police cordiality.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. David Asante-Apeatu, disclosed this when he responded to a suggestion on the subject during a media engagement at the Police Headquarters last week.
To a concern by a media practitioner about difficulty in meeting commanders and other personnel when there are issues to be addressed or information to be divulged because the officers are largely unfriendly, he said “plans are on as part of the transformation project to resolve this challenge”.
Continuing, the IGP said the Police Administration is concentrating on citizen/police relationship as an important ingredient of policing. This he said is a project being sponsored by the European Union (EU).
On the issue of non-availability of artists in the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), the IGP said this was being addressed. “We are in link with specialists in that direction,” he said.
The question about artists was prompted by a recent reference to the subject by the police.
Artists constitute an important aspect of criminal investigations as they draw the impressions of suspects based on available information about such persons. Such impressions facilitate the apprehension of wanted suspects. It has turned out that the CID has no such personnel, thereby hindering the work of this critical segment of policing.
While reacting to the allegation levelled against an unnamed CID officer by the widow of the Abuakwa North MP JB Danquah, the IGP said the matter is receiving attention and Ms. Ivy Heward-Mills would be invited to come and assist in investigations.
Recently, the widow in a social media post accused the CID officer whom she said was head of a crucial unit of the department of making love overtures to her through a phone call.
“She has been spoken to and given time to come and assist in the investigation into the allegation,” the IGP indicated.
On the so-called sense of insecurity in the country, the IGP pointed at the statistics presented by the Deputy Director General of the CID, ACP/Mr. Tweneboah Barima Sasraku II, to debunk the perception.
The Deputy Director General’s statistics showed that there has been a relative reduction in crime in the country pointing out that in some situations, missing cases or even abductions have been erroneously referred to as kidnappings.
Public education, patrols and other programmes are being embarked upon by the police as immediate measures in response to the recent cases of kidnappings and other criminalities, the Deputy Director General pointed out during the media encounter.
By A.R. Gomda