The Ghana Police Service has been charged to conduct a thorough background check on people they recruit into the service to prevent the promotion of criminal activities.

This was highlighted by the Editor of the Informer Newspaper, Andy Kankam, during an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show. Andy was speaking in relation to a story covered by the Informer newspaper which revealed that a police officer by name Felix Gbekle had supported criminal activities by aiding a criminal in acquiring and licensing arms for criminal operations.

“We appeal to the police service to do thorough background investigations before recruiting. I think the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the chief constable of the land must do everything possible to rid the service of such criminal conducts to brand and give the police service a very good image”, he said.

He shuddered at how trained police officers will engage in criminal activities when they have been tasked to “help maintain law and order and protect life and property”.

He, however, concluded that this action can only be borne out of greed. “They want quick money. When you do the background check, you will notice that perpetrators of these acts are young people in the service who feel that they must be rich overnight”, he added.

Reiterating the need for a thorough background check, Andy stressed, “I will only recommend to the IGP and his management that going forward, they should take the background check they used to do before recruiting people very seriously. In civilized jurisdictions, if you have been in the cells before, you cannot be a police officer. So why is it happening here? It is disturbing”.

The Nalerigu Station Officer, Inspector Felix Gbekle, has been nabbed for his alleged involvement in the acquisition of a gun license ostensibly for use in criminal activities. Mr Felix Gbekle was arrested for facilitating the illegal acquisition of a gun license for a suspected thief who was standing trial for illegal possession of arms and stealing at the Nalerigu District Court in the Northeast Region.