Philipp Nehenke, GIZ Programme Manager addressing personnel
District police commands across the country will now have community police units to serve as links between the law enforcement department and the public.
The Director General in charge of the National Patrols Department, COP/Mr Paul Manly Awini said every district will have a total of 18 police officers who will work for 24 hours and divided into two zones.
He said each zone will have an intelligence officer, a supervisor and a deputy supervisor.
Speaking at the trainer of trainers workshop for selected officers who are to be trained in the new community policing concept introduced, in Accra, the Director General said, these officers will link up with members of the community, interact with residents to know their security challenges and issues of concern and work with them closely to see how it can be resolved.
He revealed that community policing concept has now been mainstreamed into the various police training schools and at their institutions of higher learning to ensure that all officers get the concept of community policing.
“ those police officers already in the system are going to be trained by these trainers to also get the concept of the community police module, the current Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, is introducing,” he said.
A federal government agency, GIZ, is helping with the development of the community policing strategy.
The Director in charge of Community Policing Directorate, ACP Lawrencia Akorle, in an address said personnel to be trained were drawn from the various police training schools in the country and they will be trained for five days after which they will also train others within their areas on the new concept.
The officers will be taken through community policing concepts including ethics and professional image, police patrols in neigbourhood watch communities, consultation and planning, problem-oriented policing, partnership and collaboration with the public, crime prevention among others.
Also present were Philippe Nehenke, GIZ programme manager, Dr Dominique Wisler, an international facilitator, Gideon Nii Quaye, a facilitator, and other senior police officers.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey