A Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Maxwell Atingane, Tema Regional Police Commander, has attributed the reduction in crime wave in the region to the alertness and hard work of personnel of the security agencies.

DCOP Atingane, who made these remarks at this year’s West African Security Services Association (WASSA) of the Ashaiman Divisional Police Command, said as a result of their efforts, criminal cases in the region dropped from 16,662 in 2011 to 13,017 last year.

He pledged the security agencies determination and resolve to ensure that criminal activities in the region was reduced to the barest minimum in order to make the region a safer place for its residents.

He said Tema and Ashaiman have been zoned into sectors to ensure effective mobile and foot patrols to contain violent crimes and sanity on the roads.

DCOP Atingane said the Regional Police Command was in close collaboration with some resident associations in Communities like ‘3’ and ‘25’ to finance the construction of new Police Stations to bring policing to their doorsteps.

“We shall continue to uphold the fundamental human right of persons as enshrined in the Constitution, pursue our objectives through the prevention and detection of crime, protection of lives and property, apprehension and prosecution of offenders as well as the maintenance of law and order.”

Chief Superintendent David Eklu, Ashaiman Divisional Police Commander, said the effective collaboration between the Police and their Military counterparts from the First Battalion Infantry at Michel Camp has greatly improved the security situation in Ashaiman and its environs.

He said there are effective night patrols by the Police within the Municipality to give the residents peaceful rest after the day’s hard work.

Chief Supt Eklu said during the second quarter of last year some communities within the Municipality were attacked by armed robbers using unregistered motorbikes.

However, he said, with targeted swoops on criminal hideouts arrests and prosecution of offending motor riders and intensified patrols, the situation was brought under control with residents in those communities enjoying relative peace and security.

Lieutenant-Colonel Fred Ntiri, Commanding Officer of the First Battalion of Infantry (1BM) at Michel Camp, pledged the Military cooperation to combat crime in the region.

Nii Adzor, Regent of Ashaiman and Chairman for the occasion, commended the security agencies within the Municipality for exhibiting a high sense of professionalism which he said had helped to reduce crime in the area.

The Ashaiman Regent urged the security agencies to continue to deal swiftly with land-guards whose activities in the Municipality left much to be desired.

WASSA is an occasion within the security agencies during which regimental structures are relaxed for officers and junior ranks to interact under recreational conditions while at the same time evaluating their performances for the previous year and strategising for the ensuing year.

It is also an occasion during which stakeholders get insights into issues that security agencies contend with while on the field and in this way the security agencies build bridges of trust with the communities they serve.