Takoradi Feb. 22 GNA - The Crime Fighters Initiative of the Ghana Police Service was on Tuesday launched in the Western Region at a ceremony at Takoradi. The initiative is being supported by the British High Commission in Ghana and the Multimedia Telecommunication Network (NTN). In a speech, the Western Regional Operations Commander of the Ghana Police Service Chief Superintendent Peter Burgesson, said the region was th= e second to be hooked to the initiative.

He said the initiative was going to complement the efforts of the Police to combat crime in the region. The Public Affairs Director of the Ghana Police Service Superintendent of Police Kwesi Ofori said serial callers had started jamming the hotline o= f the initiative with fake calls while others use the hotline without giving information on crime activities. He said the Police had acquired equipment to track down those misusing the hotline because of the frequency of the practice.

Mr. Samuel Appiah, Western and Central Regional Manager of MTN, said the MTN was supporting the initiative with communication materials and this was being done to promote community development and to help fight crime. He said MTN had provided toll free short code 9318555" to enable th= e public to report crime to the Police anywhere in the country. Mr. Appiah said the Network had organized a training programme for police personnel on customer service and call centre management to equip them with basic skills of handling customer complaints to help ensure the success of the initiative.