Election 2012: Special training for 16,000 policemen

Sixteen thousand (16,000) Police officers will be receiving training on how to handle violent situations and crisis during the upcoming elections.

The training will be funded and conducted by the UK Aid from the Department for International Development. The Department in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service will provide a five-week training exercise for some police officers nationwide.

This is to ensure that the police are equipped and ready for any situation during the election.

The Director General of Operations of the Ghana Police Service, DCOP John Kudalor, told Citi News in an interview that “this training is unique because of the combatants and the determination by each party to win, so it's very useful to help us take decisions and also help us to be more professional.

“There is this perception, especially in this part of the world that any incumbent has an advantage.

"This police service was during the last elections and an opposition party came in so why can’t we do it again?

“Ours is to ensure that it is fair ground, do our job professionally. We are apolitical and that is the same thing that we’re going to do so this are perceptions, there are no concrete proof of the police taking sides," he said.

He added: “I think we’re well prepared, you can start with the biometric registration, the first two days the police was not there was nearly mayhem. We came in and everything stabilized. We’re going to be doing the same thing for the elections."**