The late Constable Emmanuel Osei
In the aftermath of the recent armed robbery attacks, the Police Administration has unfolded new operational strategies.
Although for security reasons the fine details of the robust response will not be made public, the DAILY GUIDE can confirm that the safety of personnel and property will be greatly enhanced.
One of the highlights of the strategies is that the current arrangement of having one police escort for bullion vans has been stopped.
Three police escorts will henceforth be assigned to a bullion van and no police officer shall sit in the vehicle conveying cash.
Per the new arrangement, marked service vehicles shall escort bullion vans during such special duties.
The Police Administration has taken the issue of adequate protective gear for special duty cops seriously in the light of the recent fatal shooting of the Constable Emmanuel Osei at Adedenkpo in James Town, Accra. The deceased was without a protective gear on his body and head.
Special duty cops such as those escorting bullion vans shall mandatorily don a helmet and a ballistic vest.
DAILY GUIDE has also learnt about arrangements by the Police Administration to secure communication gadgets for special duty police officers.
The past few weeks have been awash with incidents of armed robberies across the country, the most prominent being the attack on a bullion van in Accra which claimed the life of a young constable and a petty trader.
The sheer bravado of the armed robbers and the manner in which they executed the criminality awed Ghanaians.
The Inspector General of Police in one of his early reactions, when the criminals struck, said the Police Administration will find out why the police escort was not wearing the regulation safety vest as required by police standards.
The close shave with another armed robbery attack in the Central Region did not of course mitigate the pain of Ghanaians as it rather added to it.
Many asked whether the armed robbers were winning.
It was reassuring however, when the Police Administration left nobody in doubt about their preparedness to counter the criminals.
The new operational strategies, some aspects of which the police have rightly kept to their chests, will deal a devastating blow to the criminals.
There is police presence in some parts of Accra as part of an enhanced policing in the light of the action of the criminals.
Personnel of the Formed Police Unit of the Ghana Police Service were on duty last Saturday around the Tang Palace Hotel, Accra.
Attention is also being directed at unregistered motorbikes particularly, as armed robbers now prefer these for their operations.
By A.R. Gomda