General News of Friday, 2 March 2018

Source: 3news.com

Head of Police Operations is a no nonsense man – Security expert

DCOP Simon Afeku, Director-General in charge of Operations, Ghana Police Service DCOP Simon Afeku, Director-General in charge of Operations, Ghana Police Service

Many Ghanaians are upbeat Thursday’s shakeup at the top command of the Ghana Police Service will arrest the growing robbery incidents in the country.

For security analyst, Emmanuel Kotin, the new Director-General in charge of Operations is one of the country’s best bet to confront the robbery menace that has created fear and panic among citizens.

DCOP/Mr. Simon Afeku who was the Eastern Regional Police Commander was reassigned to the national headquarters to take charge of operations, following a major shakeup by the Inspector General of Police which affected 11 top police officers on March 1.

He is taking over from COP/Dr. George Akuffo Dampare who is now heading to the Research and Planning as the Director ­General.

Emmanuel Kotin, who is the Executive Director of African Center for Security and Counter-Terrorism, told TV3 the expertise Mr Afeku is bringing on board in the face of rising daylight robberies in parts of the country, especially the capital Accra would be useful.

He pointed out that “DCOP Afeku who is a no-nonsense person and an operational guy” knows that the general public will call for his head if he does not live up to the expectation.

Mr Kotin also believes the appointment of COP/Christian Tetteh Yohunu as the Director-General responsible for Police Intelligence is a step in the right direction.

He is confident COP Yohunu would use his experience to aid DCOP Afeku fight criminal activities in the country.

“So the complementary role he is going to play with DCOP Afekuo is going to work in the shortest term,” he assessed.

The security analyst, however, charged the police hierarchy to come up with an operational plan – short, medium and long-term – as against the “shortcut” approach to addressing security issues in the country.