Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Augustine Gyenning, the Ashanti Regional Commander, has urged personnel of the service to remain alert and stay ahead of criminals.

They need to be professional, evenhanded but firm in the performance of their duties.

He said it was by so doing that they could win public confidence, support and co-operation in the fight against crime.

DCOP Gyenning was speaking at a day’s workshop held for Divisional and District Crime Officers, Detective Chief Inspectors and Inspectors in the Region in Kumasi.

The aim of the event was to strengthen their capacity in intelligence gathering as the nation prepared to go to the polls in the coming December.

This way, they would be able to predict security challenges and act quickly to deal with these before they explode into something nasty.

DCOP Gyenning said they should sit up and avoid the temptation to underestimate any security threat.

He asked them to also carry out thorough investigation into all cases to secure conviction of criminals put before the courts.

Police Chief Superintendent John Naami, the Regional Crime Officer, said general crime in the region is on the downward trend.

He said as of the first six months of this year, a total of 19,092 crimes, had been recorded. Compared with the 2011’s half-year figure of 19,153, this represented 0.32 percent reduction.

He underlined the need for the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to be adequately equipped to perform and urged the media to be more circumspect and avoid hyping and putting spin on inflammatory pronouncements.