General News of Tuesday, 6 September 2011

Source: The Informer

‘I Will Purge Police Service Of Miscreants’ -IGP

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mr. Paul Tawiah Quaye, has reiterated his determination to flush out from the service, personnel who engage in any form of unprofessional conduct that threatens to bring the noble service into disrepute.
Mr. Tawiah Quaye made the declaration when The Informer reached him through telephone over the weekend, following reports of irregularities as well as brutalities and human right abuses suffered by a section of the general public in the hands of the police, in some regions.

According to him, any individual or group of persons in the employment of the service found to have acted in a very dishonorable manner will be dealt with per the rules and regulations of the service.

The Inspector-General of Police who sounded emphatic in his statement said that, he will not spare any officer who will use his or her office to molest innocent individuals and most importantly to engage in any form of irregularity.
“No personnel, be it a senior or junior officer, apprehended with an overwhelming evidence to have been involved in any shape of despicable act will escape my wrath”, Mr. Paul Quaye warned.
“As the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the service, it is my onus responsibility to, at all times preserve and protect the image of the service; and this I will do without fear or favour”, he assured.
“In fact, I will strive very hard to ensure that my vision to rebrand the Ghana police service to an acceptable standard, to be liked by society, is enforced; and I will not be swayed by my detractors”, the IGP affirmed, and says no person captured on his radar as part of his image cleansing exercise will go unpunished.
Mr. Paul Tawiah Quaye, however, cautioned his men to refrain from practices that will mar the image of the Ghana police service; and charged them to be good ambassadors of the body they represent, as they enforce the law.
The Editors Note
It would be recalled that Mr. Paul Tawiah Quaye on assumption of office in May 2009, promised to transform the Ghana Police Service (GPS) into a standard that will be accepted by the people of this country, and the world as large.
As part of his reforms, he also assures the general public of his intention to restore the hitherto bad image of the service. That is why we find it completely unacceptable on the part of some newspapers which, through articles sought to question his mode of disciplining offending officers, who have been caught to have engaged in some form of unprofessional conduct.
We will be the first body to take on the IGP when he goes contrary to the provisions of the service, but when he seems to have not committed any crime, but rather operating within the framework of the law, as regards the police service, why should newspapers make him subject of attack because they want to please their paymasters.
Henceforth, those of us at The Informer will not take kind to negative publications aimed at playing down on the achievements of the IGP as far as his efforts to repackage the police service, is concerned.
In fact, detractors within and outside the service will have themselves to blame, when the real fight begins; and their covetous activities and evil intent to paint the IGP and government black in the eyes of Ghanaian people are brought to the limelight.