Govt to recruit 2,000 more police

GOVERNMENT has given approval for the recruitment of 2,000 police personnel for the year 2003.

The move will improve the current police population ratio of one police officer to 1,125 people as against the United Nations recommendation of one police officer to about 500 people.

It also forms part of the government’s long-term effort at augmenting the strength of the police to prevent crimes and protect lives and property. The Inspector-General of Police made this known in a speech read on his behalf at the launching of a national art and essay competition on police-civilian relationship in Accra yesterday.

The competition, which is on the theme, “Promoting cordial police-civilian relationship: the way forward,” is being organised by the Fraternal Order of Police, Ghana (FOP), a non-governmental organisation and it aims at creating awareness and gathering information from the general public on their views about the police service. The IGP said the target is to get 20,000 personnel by the year 2005 to bring the ratio to one policeman to 900 people.

He acknowledged the fact that crime is rising steadily with increase in population while the service is understaffed with a ratio of one policeman to 1,125 people, adding that “policing the entire nation is therefore a big problem.”

A Deputy Minister of the Interior, Mr Kwadwo Affram Asiedu, who launched the competition, said over the years, the government has endeavoured to provide the police service with some of the critical resources needed for the service to be able to perform its duties efficiently and effectively, adding that “by the end of the year, the service should have over 400 new and rehabilitated vehicles to add to its fleet of vehicles.”

The Director of FOP, Ghana, Mr Henry Thompson, said the organisation aims at stimulating action and support through logistical support and training for the police service to tackle crime efficiently.

The Executive Director of Children's Right International, Nana Kofi Ofosu Bekoe, has suggested that police personnel interact more with children to remove the negative perception about the police and the work they do, which is more of maintaining a peaceful and orderly society. Nana Bekoe, who is also the Nkosuohene of Tepa Abotoase, appealed to the Deputy Minister of Interior, Mr Kojo Afram Asiedu, and the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of operations, Mr K. K. Marfo, to consider allocating one of the new vehicles to the Tepa Abotoase Police Station to enable the police at Tepa Abotoase to effectively operate to check crime in the Tepa Traditional area.

Justifying the request, Nana Kofi Ofosu Bekoe said that the police station at Tepa Abotoase services more than five communities which are far from each other. This he said makes it difficult for the police to effectively combat crime in the traditional area.

He indicated that the area is a market centre and probably one of the largest markets in the Volta region.