New IGP`s challenge to officers, men Get on, or be booted out… Stresses on need for `Service with Integrity`

In his quest to restore what he admits to be the dented image of the Service, the new Inspector General Police (IGP), Paul Tawiah Quaye, has sent a word of advice to the officers and men of the Ghana Police Service (GPS), to live up to expectations.

According to him, any individual or group of persons in the service who act contrary to expectations would be made to face the full consequences of his or her actions and inaction, since the Police Service was no more going to compromise on its integrity.

He made these comments at his maiden address at the Police Headquarters in Accra, to outline his vision and objectives to the media.

Mr. Quaye therefore asked his officers and men to ensure a high degree of discipline and accountability within the service, indicating his commitment and preparedness to enforce, what he described as a rigorous equitable discipline in his administration.

“Officers and men, who for whatever reasons may run crisscross to the ethics of the police profession, will be dealt with drastically, without favour,” he emphasised.

He further advised the officers and men of the service, to operate within the parameters of democratic principles of policing, devoid of acts which tend to undermine the tenets which govern the protection of the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the citizenry, as enshrined in Chapter 5 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.

That notwithstanding, the IGP was optimistic the officers and men of the Ghana Police Service would abide by the rules and regulations governing the profession, in order not to fall prey to the law.

The police administration has also set specific goals and targets for all police stations, districts, units, divisions, and regions, against which performance would be measured periodically. Consequently, the aggregate of results will be analysed in the context of the overall national objectives of the country.

This way, the IGP believes, “negative variances reflecting non-performance or under-performance can be immediately identified, evaluated and rectified,” with the main control mechanism being the effective monitoring of performance at all levels.

Mr. Quaye envisions seeing a world-class police service that uses best professional practices and strategies to combat crime, including apprehension and prosecution of criminals in Ghana, with the belief that this would enhance the peace and security of the various communities in the country.

Based on this vision, the Inspector General of Police says it is his principal objective to implement systematically, short to medium term strategic national policing plans, aimed at significantly improving the maintenance of law and order, and the protection of life and property.

In order to achieve this objective, the police administration has resolved to embark on a programme of undertaking a major internal re-structuring and capacity-building in the service, with a review to effectively and efficiently utilising the limited human and logistic resources of the service.

It has also expressed willingness to develop a professionally competent workforce, through what they call systematic core and related training and development, to establish a high delivery.

In this light, the IGP said there would be regular in-service training programmes for the officers and men of the service, with a view of sharpening their professional skills and keeping them abreast with contemporary developments in policing, with particular focus on the Ghanaian society.

Emphasis in these courses are expected to be put on integrity, discipline, leadership and management skills, fairness in dealing with the public, and the retention of staff in core operational roles.