Danger on university campuses: Police increase presence to check crime, insecurity

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, said this on Friday while addressing the lecturers, deans, heads of departments and stu­dents of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Sunyani, as part of his two-day working visit to the Bono Region.

The IGP’s statement was against the backdrop of public concerns about rising criminal activities and student agitations in public univer­sities, which often result in violence and vandalisation of property and threats to human life.

He said the Police Administra­tion was working closely with the various public university authorities to implement the programme to strengthen security and deepen peace and social cohesion on the various campuses for academic work to progress.

Dr. Dampare said the police were working hard to imbue personnel with a high sense of patriotism in tackling national security challenges and threats.

The IGP said specifically that beginning next week, his admin­istration would attach five police dispatch riders to UENR to help maintain law and order on its campus.

“We are going to put a system in place to identify all the various routes entering the university and ensure enough police visibility, in­cluding the intelligence component of security,” he stated.

The Vice-Chancellor of UENR, Professor Elvis Asare-Bediako, said the university had been able to establish a police post on campus and commended the IGP for his assistance in that regard.

“Now, we have a joint police and UENR Security Patrol team, which combs around the campus and dangerous areas in the enclave,” he said, explaining that the initiative had helped to reduce crime within the university community.

Prof. Asare-Bediako said he was hopeful that the cordial relation­ship between the police and the university would be strengthened for improved security.

The Director-General of the Police Patrols Department, Commission­er of Police (COP) Paul Manly Awuni, while advising the students to always remain law-abiding, urged police personnel to uphold pro­fessionalism in their duties, as that was the only way they would enjoy public respect.

Earlier, the IGP had paid a courtesy call on members of the Sunyani Traditional Council and staff of the Bono Regional Coordi­nating Council and interacted with them.