CALL POLICE PRO TO ORDER!

The funniest joke I have ever heard since the beginning of the year is the one coming from no less person than the Acting Public Affairs Director of the Ghana Police Service, DSP Cephas Arthur. In an interview with the Accra-based radio station, he is reported to have said that commercial drivers should be blamed for police perceived corruption. Defending his claims, he said that the police's work is mostly public. Ever since I heard that unfortunate comment, I have found it extremely difficult to come to terms with it and wondered aloud the work of the public directorate unit of the police service.

As if that is not enough, he also released a statement concerning the confrontation between the DCE and the police commander over a tape recording. In denying the story, he admitted the clash between the two and even gave a word of caution the media to be circumspect in its reportage in order not to breach peace. The shocking of it all is his assertion that politicians and social commentators be mindful of embroiling the police in politics, for police are neutral professionals. This could not be entirely true! I don't get it, neutral professionals! DSP come again. Yes, every policeman and woman takes part in voting. Who appoints the IGP? Is it a political party in government? Even though the police men and women may have political affiliations, their job enjoined them not to be open about it.

Of late, DSP Cephas Arthur has been in the news for a number of reasons: possibly, he acts as a mediator between his institution and the public. After all, his job is to present the police in the most favourable way possible.

If his comments are anything to go by, then he only succeeded in deepening the already negative public perception of the police as the most corrupt institution in the police. This brings into sharp focus the complete overhauling of the public directorate unit of the police. No amount of PRO spin (work) can clean the badly dented image of the police if every now and then police men and women are seen extorting money from drivers, particularly commercial ones. In the full glare of everyone, commercial drivers conceal money in their driving's licence, and police ostensibly checking the documents, remove the money and return the driving's licence to them. As long as those things are true, then the PR unit is doing its job of protecting its reputation and image. Stretching the truth to create a positive spin, however, can end up being detrimental to the police institution. That is what DSP Arthur has succeeded in doing just that. It is not everything that as PR Unit you must come out to speak about; unless the issue has something to do with negative publicity which can have the potential to damage service's reputation.

The state has vested power and authority in the hands of police and, therefore, police has the authority to arrest any driver who attempts to grease the palm of the police officers, knowing full well that both the giver and the taker are all guilty of corruption. If the driver is found to have committed a traffic offence and succeeds in influencing the policeman to drop the charges against him simply because he bribes his way out, then the policeman does not know his work and has no place being in the service!

The argument that the police deals a lot with the public so many people have the negative perception of the police as the most corrupt institution in the country is flawed. There are many institutions that deal with the public but are not perceived as such. So why the police! Police have a notorious bribe-taking image and many are those who are of the view that it is due to low remuneration and other conditions of service. With the introduction of the single spine pay structure, nonetheless, the police are still taking bribes from commercial drivers, and the practice seems to be getting worse by each passing day. DSP Arthur sees nothing wrong with that but seeks to defend indefensible. So long as the police can not stop taking bribes, the image cleansing campaign would come to nothing. Talk to commercial drivers, you would surprise to learn that the police are still demanding bribes, this time in gargantuan terms.

Today, the world is changing faster than ever. New ideas and new technologies are springing up almost every day. And this calls for new strategies and new plans when it comes to management and planning. With the able leadership of the Inspector Ghana of Police, Mr. Paul Tawiah Quaye to inject the professional dynamism and, therefore, change the entire face of the service, there is where the work of the PR unit becomes so important in projecting the image of the service. The PR unit is to come out with strategies and plans aimed at creating public awareness, assuring the general public about the new face of the service.

Comments like that of DSP only go to reinforce the bad public opinion about the police. It is important that the PRO unit of the police service exercises a lot of professional ethics in dealing with the public and to repair the already sinking image of the service, a lot of responsibilities rest with the PRO unit. PIPS are doing well in helping to get rid of bad nuts and misfits in the service, but much is still required of the public directorate unit to carve a new niche for the entire service.