COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah
The Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, has reminded police investigators that debt collection is not part of their duties and must desist from the practice.
According to her, investigators must investigate criminal cases thoroughly and not engage in debt collection.
“If any officer is found engaging in acts that are not part of policing duties, especially civil cases, that person will be dealt with by the police administration,” she added.
Her remarks follow a video that captures some police personnel collecting debts collection and receiving money for bail from families of suspects.
The undercover investigation conducted by Corruption Watch was carried out in police stations in three regions- Greater Accra, Ashanti and Central.
COP Tiwaa Addo-Danquah disclosed this at the closing ceremony of a two-week intensive course organised for CID personnel at the Detective Training Academy in Accra.
The course was meant to upgrade the knowledge of the officers to be able to deliver quality services to Ghanaians, as well as fight crime in communities.
“Crimes have increased and also changed with the growing technological sophistication, and criminals sometimes outsmart the police and other security agencies because they use skills and tactics to cover their criminal activities, thereby making it difficult for the police to connect them to the various crimes.
“Criminal investigations and prosecutions involve a lot of evidence gathering to connect an offender to a crime. The major problem for the police in conducting criminal investigations is that not only is there potentially massive amount of information available, but also the relevance of the information is often unknown, incomplete and inaccurate.”
She disclosed that over 300 CID chief inspectors across the country would undergo the training, adding that the CID would ensure that all personnel at the lower level of supervision take the course.
The Commandant of the Detective Training Academy, Chief Superintendent Benjamin Affisa, in an address, said 82 personnel were selected nationwide for the course.
He said personnel were taken through topics such as customer care, review of docket, techniques of investigations, supervision of CID books, CID Forms, docket building and money laundering, among others.
He added that 18 seasoned resource persons, including retired Inspector General of Police, members of the bar and bench took the officers through the aforementioned course.
He urged personnel to apply the skills, and knowledge acquired during the training to effectively combat crime in the country.
Present were the Deputy Director General of CID, ACP George Tweneboah, Director of Operations at CID, ACP Joseph Oklu Gyamera and other senior police officers.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey