OPARE WRITES: Live Facebooking of Acting IGP Security Operation moves – Extremely Unprofessional!

I deem it as a professional and a social obligation to come out with this brief but succinct write up to rebuke our revered acting Inspector General of Police Dr. George Akuffo Dampare and the entire Ghana Police Service especially the Police Social Media Team under the auspices of the public relation department, with absolutely no mischief for the recent live Facebooking of the acting IGP crime combatting initiatives.

The acting IGP in some recent weeks has come out with some initiatives to combat crime, notable among these initiatives are horse policing, intensification of the anti – armed robbery, highway patrols and night patrols teams, all these initiatives are laudable and it buttress both the professional and academic credentials of Dr. George Akuffo Dampare who majority of Ghanaians including myself believes that he qualifies to the backbone for the Inspector General position of Ghana Police.

Among all the security institutions in the country and to some extent the continent, Ghana Police has proven to have no match when it comes to effective utilization of media platforms to engage the citizenry, the police is the only security institution in Ghana with a verified Facebook page which is also well vibrant; in fact, the prowess of Ghana Police Service Public Relations Department is undeniable.

The use of media platforms, including social media i.e., Facebook by the Ghana Police Service to inform Ghanaians about initiatives taken by them to protect lives and properties is absolutely not out of place, because citizens ought to know what our men in uniforms are doing to protect us. However, it is totally out of place when Police use such platforms in a manner that are questionable in professional context of security.

The Police media team has recently used their Facebook page to inform Ghanaians with regards to some of the moves the IGP and his team has made by publishing after events pictures and videos of the IGP activities on their Facebook page among these include the IGP’s visit to Abesim in the Bono Region over the killing of two persons, visit to Abease and New Longoro in the Bono East Region among others, all these Facebook publications were a step in the right direction for effective police - public relations.

For lack of better word, it was appalling that the IGP patrols and operational activities in some part of the country yesterday was streamed live on the Police Facebook page. By this incident it appears to me that the Public Relation team that manage their page are confuse with regards to what to, when to and what not to and when not to post and stream live.

I still cannot phantom why a security patrol duty which is a crime combatting strategy, and hence must be covert be made live on social media by the apex interior security institution in Ghana.

It is important that the police keep the public known about what they are doing to secure us, but it is highly imperative that professionalism and international best practices are not compromise for the sake of public relation.

Security patrols are generally operational strategy for combatting crime and hence requires some level of covertness when it is ongoing or even being plan, there is a clear distinction between operational duties and operational exercises.

The IGP patrols yesterday August 26^th – 2021 that was shown live on the Police Facebook page was not a Joint Security Confidence Building Match, Security Services Sports Association Games, Achiase Jungle Warfare Security Exercise and among other non-combative exercises that its real - time/live monitoring by the public would not have a dire security consequences on crime combat, but this was a clear operational duty geared towards combatting crime which it monitoring by criminals can help them to revise their plans to counter the police patrols strategy to perpetuate their planned criminal activities successfully.

The live streaming of police operational duties like what was shown yesterday is a big security blunder that needs to be condemned and discouraged for it not to happen again. I am by this reaching out to our astute acting Inspector General of Police Dr. George Akufo Dampare and the Ghana Police Public Relation Department to orient or re-orient their social media team about what and when to post during or after.

All Correct Sir!

#SpreadFactsButNotLies