Anomalous Policing Times

IGP/Dr. George Akuffo Dampare

The presence of bad and dangerous elements in the ranks of the Ghana Police Service is a matter of grave concern to the citizens of this country as much as it is to the good serving officers and of course, their retired colleagues.

For those who strived to raise the service to an appreciable level of respectability and now on retirement, recent developments such as police officers attacking bullion vans call for a rethink of existing practices.

We cannot overlook the efforts being brought to bear upon the law enforcement department by the current leadership of IGP/Dr. George Akuffo Dampare and his team so it can  meet the standards of world-class policing.

Indeed, it is these efforts which led to the enhancement of the intelligence wing of the service to be able to expose the cops behind the notorious bullion van robberies. But for this feat, the crime could have gone on for longer.

Existing anomalies account for the existence of the few yet dangerous characters whose scandalous pastimes are casting a long shadow over the image of the Ghana Police Service and regrettably so.

It is important to acknowledge the fact that the militarisation of some aspects of the law enforcement department is a dangerous trend which does not inure to policing when the accompanying guidelines are not adhered to.

When circumstances demand that specialised units such as the Counter Terrorism Units, National SWAT and Formed Police Unit are created, personnel deployed should not serve beyond a couple of years or so. Ignoring this leads to some personnel assuming an air of inappropriate superiority and hubris the outcome of which is where we find ourselves today.

A police officer is unlike a soldier although the regimental orientation is common to both. Whereas the latter is trained to kill foes in the field of battle, the former is by and large trained to enforce the law, hence his or her reference as a civil police officer.

Police officers use firearms as a last resort; when their lives and others are in danger.

Young men who have been given specialised training and left to stay for many years in elitist units develop un-policing mindset and are tempted to try out the ‘commando-like’ attacks executed at Adedenkpo, Jamestown in Accra last year and Kaneshie, among others.

Background checks must be undertaken of potential officers before they pass out from the various training centres. Old school inspection of uniforms to ensure that regulation fatigues are used must return to the barracks. Call the old school and you would not be wrong.

It is for a reason that police officers are uniformed with their name tags clearly displayed on their breast portions of their uniforms.

We cannot fold our arms as indiscipline threatens this all-important department of state.

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