The Ho Municipal Police Command is to increase visibility and public education to curb petty crime in the municipality.

The move is also to ward off kidnappers and criminals ahead of the Easter festivities.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Anthony Danso, Municipal Police Commander, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said kidnappers had adopted new strategies that involved long term engagements with potential victims to avoid suspicion and said the police was responding to that intelligence.

He said police picked information that victims were being lured into relationships and later kidnapped and cautioned the public to be wary of such moves.

The Commander said targets were usually girls between the ages of 15 to 25, and that trafficking was likely the main reason for the abductions.

He said the command was collaborating with stakeholders including the Ghana Immigration Service for joint patrols, and also with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to sensitise the public on how to evade the net of abductors.

"The Municipal Command would undertake serious public education, and also organise swoops on suspected criminal hideouts," the Commander stated.

DSP Danso said with the recent release of patrol vehicles, a significant reduction in crime had been recorded, but lamented that lack of manpower burdened officers of the Service.

He raised concerns over non-functioning streetlights in the regional capital, particularly the SSNIT flats and its environs, Area 51, Medical Village and Alayi, which were becoming hideouts for criminals.

DSP Danso therefore appealed to the Municipal Assembly to work on the streetlights and access roads to the communities.