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23.05.2018 Crime & Punishment

Police Stations Across The Country To Go Paperless

By GNA
Police Stations Across The Country To Go Paperless
23.05.2018 LISTEN

The Ghana Police Service has embarked on a pilot programme to digitise processes at all Police Stations.

As part of the E-Policing programme to be rolled out, the Professional Standards Bureau of the Police Service, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Prosecution were being digitised.

Commissioner of Police (COP) James Oppong-Boanuh, who represented the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mr David Asante-Apeatu said this at the launch of Ghana's first integrated Criminal Justice Case Tracking System (CTS) at the Law Court Complex in Accra.

The CTS is led by the Judicial Service, Ghana Police, Prisons and Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice and Attorney General's Department via the Director of Public Prosecution, the Economic and Organised Crime and the Legal Aid Scheme.

COP Oppong- Boanuah noted that sophistication of crime these days called for effective collaboration between the Police and the Judicial Service through data sharing and the Ghana Police Service has also identified Information Communication Technology as the main driver of its transformation agenda process.

'The success of the Police will mean nothing to the country if there were no collaboration between the Police, the Judiciary and the Prisons. The CTS has therefore come at a better time,' he said.

COP Oppong-Boanuh who welcomed the CTS, noted that the system should enable the Attorney General to access and monitor Police case dockets and be able to offer advice on them.

He said it should also be possible for the Director of CID to also ascertain the number of adjournments in criminal cases as well as know convicts received at the various prisons.

'The CTS should also assist the Police to know certain categories of prisoners released in order to reduce the incidence of 'recycled prisoners,' he said.

Mr Stephen Coffie, a Director of Prisons in charge of Finance and Administration, Ghana Prison Service, noted that remand prisoners normally overstayed their warrants adding that the trend was worrying.

According Mr Cofie, Ghana Prisons Service had over the years been advised by local and international Organisations to deploy a system to track cases but it had not been able to do so because of lack of funding.

Mr Cofie said the CTS was not only going to reduce their operational cost, but would reduce overcrowding in the various prisons and do away with the over dependency on paper documentations.

'The inability to verify court documents would become a thing of the past. This because these papers sometimes get lost or changed,' he added.

Mr Robert Jackson, United States Ambassador to Ghana said it is proper to eliminate injustices situations that were detrimental to Ghana's developmental agenda and there was the need for the court systems to work effectively to ensure fair trial for all citizenry.

He was not enthused at the losses of documents of remand prisoners and had to stay in custody for years without trial and entreated stakeholders of CTS to design policies that would enable the project work effectively.

The CTS is expected to promote inter-agency collaboration and information sharing through an integrated Information Communication Technology platform that would enable stakeholders to access and track the status of criminal cases from arrest to incarceration.

CTS which have special focus on crimes related to corruption, boarder security, maritime security and cybercrime, would radically transform the delivery of justice and make Ghana a model for other countries to emulate.

The CTS, a three year programme sponsored by USAID, is being implemented by Chemonics International Incorporated in collaboration with Inter-regional Bridge Group and Transnational Development Associates.

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