Government declares war on police ‘misfits’

Government has declared war against miscreants who have infiltrated the Ghana Police Service, and are undermining the integrity and credibility of the Service through criminal activities.

This move is expected to create a positive image for the Service, and to help reposition it better to enjoy the confidence and support of the citizenry, as it continues to ensure effective execution of its mandate of maintaining peace, law and order in the country.

According to Nana Obiri-Boahen, Minister of State at the Interior Ministry, miscreants in the Police Service "are dragging the image of the Service in the mud," a situation he said does not augur well for the development of the nation.

"We, however, want to assure the nation that the Ministry of Interior is determined to streamline the Police Service to ensure that professionalism becomes their benchmark," the minister stated this when he inaugurated an office complex for the Salaga Police in the Northern Region.

Nana Obiri-Boahen expressed regret about the avalanche of attacks and criticisms the Police Service had been subjected to in recent times, and attributed the situation to "the unprofessional way in which some of the personnel operate."

The Minister blamed the slip in the performance of the Ghana Police Service partially to the inadequacy of the training given them, as compared to what their counterparts in other countries, such as Britain and the USA, receive.

"For many officers, the basic recruit training constitutes their only training for the first ten or more years in the Service, and that can have negative implications on their performance and professional career development," he regretted.

He also touched on the problem of human resource and logistical constraints that confront the Service, and said research had shown that if the personnel were given enough training and resourced with the requisite logistics, they would perform better just like their counterparts in the advanced countries.

"Their performance at the UN peacekeeping missions attest to this assertion; Ghanaian police officers on peace keeping mission are rated as one of the best police officers internationally," he added.

On the current police-civilian ratio of 1:1078, the Minister appealed to the public to be law abiding in order not to put the limited human resource of the service under pressure. "Incidence of needless demonstrations and related riots, ethnic conflicts and other demands stretch the Service to the limit and further account for their inability to discharge fully their Constitutional obligations." he said.