The Winneba District Police Command recorded a total of 702 criminal cases in 2014, as against 1,446 in 2013.

The District Police Commander, Reverend Superintendent John Opoku, disclosed this in a speech he delivered at the 2014 WASSA for personnel of the service in the district at Winneba.

According to him, the achievements made, was as a result of changes in the Command's strategies, to combat crime, to protect life and property in and around their areas of operation.

“I commend my men for their commitment, dedication to work and members the society for their effective collaboration that led to the reductions of crime rate in the district in 2014”, he said.

Rev. Supt. Opoku stated that WASSA day is set aside annually for members of the security services to socialize with family, members of the community in which they live, and also to take stock of the previous year’s activities and strategies for improvement.

He said robbery and its associated rape cases reduced from 27 in 2013 to six in 2014, and added that the reduction was as a result of the arrest of leaders of gang terrorizing the inhabitants and a paradigm shift from the traditional reactive policing to a more proactive approach, while stealing cases also reduced from 287 to 185 in 2014.

Rev. Supt. Opoku urged landowners as part of their contributions to bring sanity into the society to form associations, exchange contacts to help them communicate when the need arises, in order to notify the police for action.

He, therefore, encouraged people in the district to embrace the idea of neighbourhood watch-dog committees, since it was an internationally accepted tool for combating crime, since the provision of security was a shared responsibility of the police and the general public, and by so doing it will help weed out criminals from the communities

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) John Paul Akonda, the District Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department of the Service, and the planning committee of the programme chairman, urged personnel of the department to respect road users, especially drivers to enable them also to reciprocate the gesture, since road safety was a collective responsibility.

Neenyi Ghartey the Seventh, Paramount Chief of the Effutu Traditional Area, who chaired the function, appealed to the personnel in the area to continue to discharge their duties in accordance with the rules and regulations of the service in order that the trust and confidence people had in them would be sustained and improved.