Regional News of Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Source: GNA

Police Service would not shield unscrupulous characters - ACP Ayitey

The Divisional Commander in charge of Tarkwa, Assistance Commissioner of Police (ACP) Paul Ayitey, said the Ghana Police Service would not shield any unscrupulous character in the service.

ACP Ayitey said this when the Tarkwa Divisional Command of the Ghana Police Service organised its 2012 Get-together for the officers.

He said in line with the transformation drive by the Police Administration as contained in its Strategic Policy Document, any officer who went against the rules and regulations of the service would be dealt with accordingly.

ACP Ayitey explained that police officers needed to exhibit high sense of discipline and professionalism while employing modern and internationally accepted standards in all their undertaking to ensure the realization of the desired transformation of the service.

He said though last year had not been smooth, he congratulated members of the service, particularly police personnel of the Tarkwa Division for their dedication and devotion to work, which culminated in the reduction of total crime rate by 32 percent, as compared to the previous year.

He said the police would have performed excellently if it were adequately resourced with modern crime fighting equipment and that since crime fighting was a shared responsibility, all stakeholders must support the police as they did their best to protect life and property through intensification of their day and night patrols.

On the operational plan for the Tarkwa Nsueam Municipality, ACP Ayitey said they intend to rid the town, particularly the Railway Station area and all other identified slums and criminal hid outs, of all criminal activities, including drug peddlers and robbers.

He said considering the fast human and vehicular growth rate in the municipality and its crime related issues, there was the need to increase personnel to address the attendant security threats.

He said the current state of police accommodation in the municipality was not the best and, therefore, called on traditional rulers to make land available for the police housing projects in the various communities.

ACP Ayitey encouraged all stakeholders, mining institutions, financial institutions and individuals to come together on sustainable basis to assist in the police housing projects.

He said this would enable personnel posted to the municipality to respond promptly to security challenges that were associated with industrial environments.

Mr Innocent Haligah, Municipality Co-ordinating Director, said the assembly would continue to assist the Police Service to enable them to reduce crime to the minimum in the municipality.