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AS is usual in Ghana, his praise-singers are out, singing his praises. They are touting his credentials and telling us how he will be the salvation of the police. He will do this and he will do that. All the praise-singing begs the question of where he has been all this time while the problems have been piling up. In response, Mr. Quaye has promised quite a few things. He has talked of putting systems in place and having the force ran based on targets and strategic plans.

He has a very tough job and deserves our support.
The Ghana Police Service is one institution that we all love to disparage and blame. Since the Commission of Inquiry into Bribery and Corruption in 1974, nearly every report or survey has identified the Police as perhaps the most corrupt institution in our country.

The signs and symptoms of failure by our Police are everywhere.

Armed robbery is everywhere and we all spend a lot of money on improving security in our homes. Indeed, it is commonly known that if you were the victim of a robbery and your neighbour managed to reach the Police, they probably will be unable to get to you on time. Afterwards, if you went to report, there might be some difficulty with stationery to document your complaint.

On our roads, there is virtually no law.
Every driver is a law unto himself or herself. We cut in front of one another brazenly and behave as if we own the road.

Cocaine can get missing right from under the nose of the police.

The Police that is supposed to be impartial easily take sides based on financial inducements.

In a paper by Dr. Raymond Atuguba, he suggests that every Police Officer or unit "has three consecutive natural orientations: protect the powerful and rich; preserve their property; and enforce the rule of law such that the lives and property of the powerful are protected, and damn everything else."

While the public complains about the Police, they too, have their issues. They complain about lack of equipment for their jobs; not enough vehicles, no stationery, bad pay, bad accommodation. Indeed, many Police officers claim that it has become almost an unspoken convention that police officers should supplement their salaries with bribes. Policemen and women complain bitterly that over the last decade while conditions of service of the military has improved, the Police has been neglected.

They say that even within their ranks, there is a lot of discrimination and victimization and bribery. There was a time when police officer recruits had to pay something to be recruited and even to be issued with their uniforms. Those days, hopefully, are gone forever.

That the Ghana Police Service needs reform is accepted by all.

I remember that some months ago, I gave a lift to two Prison officers. When we started chatting about their work, one of them said her only regret was not joining the Police in the first place. When I asked why she said with the Police, there was a lot of opportunity to make money. "'You mean collect bribes?"

"Yes Sir!" she replied with a broad smile. The Police Service needs to be reformed so that it becomes an institution that serves the public more than the powerful.

First, we should decentralize the Police.
We should work towards the day when Police Commands in the regions can move quickly to respond to challenges without waiting forever for directives from Accra.

This coupled with decentralized accountability, can improve the performance of our police.

The second issue is remuneration. We should pay our Police personnel better. I do not buy the excuse that we cannot afford it. The Police, on our streets, collect enough money to pay themselves many times over. The problem is that most of that money goes into private pockets of police officers. That is why police officers live in decrepit barracks while many of them, from their takings on the street, are putting up mansions.

Third, there needs to be better training and the provision of more equipment.

Included in this equipment must be more vehicles, cameras on police vehicles to record interactions and modern communication equipment.

With better pay, we can attract better educated people who can relate to the public better.

Fourth, there must be more transparency in how the police perform their work.  Continued    Source: The Statesman - The Statesman

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