Kumasi, June 13, GNA - The Ghana Police Service has given the assurance that it had strengthened its internal monitoring mechanism to help prevent criminals and people with suspicious characters to enlist into the Service.

The police would also be vigilant and scrutinize critically those who intend to enlist into the Service with the aim to recruiting trustworthy

peace officers.

The assurance comes in the wake of the nationwide recruitment exercise being embarked on by the police to enlist about 2,000 people to help maintain peace in the country.

In a briefing with newsmen in Kumasi on Tuesday, Inspector Yusif Mohammed Tanko of the Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Unit said some 1,200 people out of the estimated figure would be recruited for general duties whilst 800 would be recruited for professional duties.

He said the fingerprints of all those seeking enlistment would be taken for screening and verifications into their background. Inspector Tanko said it was regrettable that about 90 per cent of those who failed to meet the criteria for the recruitment for the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo regions in Kumasi were not picked because of their failure in English and mathematics at the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

He admonished those aspiring to be potential policemen to take their studies seriously to ensure that they had good grades in all the subjects at the WASSCE.

He said it was very encouraging that most of the youth were now showing interest in being enlisted into the Police Service, stressing that in the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo regions alone some 1,500 youth turned up for the recruitment exercise.