Ghana Service is indispensable - legal Practitioner

Mr. Yaw Oppong, a law lecturer at the University of Ghana, has said the Ghana Police Service remains an indispensable tool to national security and nation building despite its negative image in a section of the public.

“Let the Police declare a two-minute strike and you will see the state of chaos and even lawlessness the nation will be plunged into,” he explained.

Mr. Oppong, who is also a legal practitioner, was speaking on the topic:“Policing in Ghana; Public Perception on the Good, the Bad and the Way Forward” at the Fourth Bi-annual General Meeting of the “COURSE 40” Group in the Ghana Police Service in Takoradi, in the Western Region.

He stated that confidence in the Police was still high, regardless of the negative perceptions.

Mr Oppong, however, mentioned the beating of offenders, breaking of suspects’ doors, extortion, wrongful arrests and detentions, and the playing of the role of debt collectors, instead of protecting lives and property, as some of the criticisms, which must be addressed by the Service.

Mr. Oppong also encouraged Police officers to apply the principles of their profession and avoid yielding to the interference from high authorities, saying, “Be loyal to the people of Ghana”.

The Law Lecturer compared the situation of the Police Service to that of a child who was always damned by his parents, saying, such children often ended up as stubborn and unproductive adults.

“Let’s give the Police a good name and rather invest in them to ensure that they adequately preserve or protect lives and property,” he advised.

During the forum, some of the officers mentioned the need for prosecution to be alienated from the Police duties, while others called for the periodic education and training on the current trends in their areas of operation.