The Inspector-General of Police Nana Owusu-Nsiah has assured Ghanaians, especially those living outside the country that the Ghana police force now has the upper-hand in crime prevention because they have been motivated with the tools to work with.

‘The Government has also given us reasons to desist from some of our misdeeds that tarnished our image.’ From May 19 to 31 for instance, the IGP said, there had not been a single reported case of armed robbery in Accra which has of late served as the network of complex crime practice.

Nana Owusu-Nsiah was speaking to Ghanaians in the Washington Metropolitan Area at the Embassy of Ghana in Washington DC at the invitation of the Council of Ghanaian Association (COGA) of the Washington Metropolitan Area, to share his thoughts on crime prevention in Ghana in an era of accelerated media reports of the crime wave. The IGP was also in Washington to meet with senior police officers for possible technical assistance.

Since assuming office, Nana Owusu –Nsiah explained, he had worked to improve the image of the police service, clamped down on armed robbery and indiscipline on the roads and ensured the development of human resource base. These objectives have been largely achieved with the support of the Government that has provided about four hundred new cars, bicycles, radios and telephones and also an alert public including its media. So far about 70 percent of the arrested criminals are in police custody.

The patronage of the Police Endowment Fund in all the regions, he said, shows the new interest in the police with some traditional councils refurbishing or building new houses for the police. Additionally the quality of recruitment into the service is such that about 80 percent of those recruited have university requirements.

These developments, he explained were far from the days when the police lacked efficient training as they occupied the 11 regional police headquarters, 140 districts headquarters and 618 police stations in the country.

The Acting Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission Mr. Isaac Aggrey said the Embassy was delighted to have collaborated with the COGA in hosting the IGP and paid tribute to the COGA and its President Mrs. Margaret Ampofo for their initiative in bringing the IGP to Washington DC.

Since Ghana is where ‘we may all return to one day it is in order to discuss and find solutions to problems afflicting the people’, he said.

According to Mrs. Margaret Ampofo, about $6,000 has been raised by the COGA to support the police and an aggressive campaign to add to that will end in October 2003.

The Embassy program which took almost a day was addressed by other speakers including, Major Tyrone Russell Morrow, Fairfax County Police Department, Dr. Kofi Ellison, Historian, Washington, DC, Mr. Lawrence Aikens, CEO, LKA Computers, College Park, P.A. Newton, President, Sebayit Tours, Mr. Samson Anna, Director, Research and Resource Development, Metropolitan Police Department, Washington DC.

During his one-week visit, Nana Owusu-Nsiah visited the Fairfax County Police Academy, the Washington DC Police and others, where he met with senior police officers who assured him of technical assistance and supply of equipment for the Ghana police.