The upsurge in crimes in recent times has compelled police officers from the West Africa Sub-region to meet to find strategies to combat it. About 20 police officers from Ghana, Nigeria and la Cote d' Ivoire have begun a training course at Tema, on "Criminal Intelligence Analysis," aimed at finding strategies to the canker that is plaguing the sub-region.

Delegates from the Republic of Togo, Benin and the Gambia are expected to join their colleagues.

Officials of the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) are the resource persons and organisers.

Opening the course on Monday, Nana Owusu Nsiah, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) noted that advancement in technology had brought in its wake sophistication in criminal activities while the emergence of new ones known as "cyber" has compounded the problem.

Nana Owusu-Nsiah noted that the sub-region is plagued with trans-national crimes like arms trafficking, illicit drug trafficking, trafficking in human being, smuggling of goods, armed robbery, theft of vehicles, credit card fraud and advance-fee fraud, popularly known as "419".

These crimes, the IGP said, were not only trans-national but also well organised, requiring a scientific approach to combat it since they impact negatively on the economies of countries in the sub-region. He said the developmental efforts of the various governments stood the risk of being derailed if steps were not taken to stem the nefarious activities of the criminals.

Nana Owusu Nsiah said although government had equipped the Ghana Police Service with both material and human resources, "our individual service cannot fight and win the war against these organised trans-national crimes single-handedly".

He entreated the delegates to utilize the opportunities to perform tasks associated with crime combating and intelligence to enhance their knowledge and capacity to deal with them.