Special College Planned For Police Officers

The Police Administration is to establish a Senior Staff Police Training College next year, to train police personnel in modern trends in policing.

The Inspector General of Police, Patrick Acheampong, who made this known explained that the establishment of the college would enable the police to respond more effectively to its responsibilities.

He was speaking at a seminar in Accra on 'Contemporary policing issues, the United Kingdom's model'.

The seminar was designed to create a platform for five officers who underwent a three-month programme in the UK, to share their experiences with their counterparts.

They include ACP Kofi Boakye, Director of Police Operations; ACP Patrick Timbillah, Chief Staff Officer; Chief Superintendent V. Sanziri, Coordinator, Domestic violence and Victim Support Unit; and DSP Lydia Donkor, Staff Officer.

Mr. Acheampong said that the college would be linked to other diploma and degree awarding institutions in order to attain the needed recognition when the programme takes off, saying, “we cannot do it alone from the onset”.
The modalities for the structures and lecturers for the college, he said are being worked out and lecturers are being trained.

Mr Acheampong said the training of police officers, had deteriorated for the past 15 years with officers not having refresher courses. He attributed that to non availability of funds, which had always hindered the efforts of the administrations to offer additional training in modern trends in policing.

He reiterated the administration's determination to achieve a high police standard by adopting a policy that would promote civil-police relationship.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of the Interior, Edwin Barnes, said the training will build up the competence of police personnel in the discharge of their duties.

He charged the beneficiaries of the training programme to impart the knowledge they have acquired to their colleagues to enhance the image of the service.