'Everyone must be security conscious in daily activities' - Western Regional MTTD Head

Chief Superintendent of Police, Mr Isaac Kwesi Sorkpah, Western Regional MTTD Head, says everyone must be Security-conscious in their daily activities.

He said the Police had moved from the traditional way of policing, protecting the executive and securing the state to what is now called human security.

This form, he noted, involved all aspects of individual needs of security like economics, political, social, environmental, and the crime itself.

Mr Sorkpah was speaking at the maiden security dialogue organised by Connect Fm, a radio station based in the Sekondi- Takoradi Metropolis, on the theme: "My Security, My Responsibility."

He said the constitution of Ghana gave the Police the mandate largely to maintain law and order and that the Police Service Act spelt out the objective of the Ghana Police Service.

This includes protection of life and properties, prevention and detection of crime, apprehension and prosecution of offenders, maintenance of law and order, among others.

He said since the dynamics of security had changed, it also caused the traditional concept of policing to change and that, at the heart of the work of Police was the security and welfare of the individual.

Mr Sorkpah indicated that the Police were organizing lots of sensitization programmes with the Public Affairs Directorates for the general public to know they were part of the Policing system.

The Police have introduced community Policing, the new trend of Policing or security, with the idea that the Police needed everyone in the society to help provide security in every aspect of life.

Group Capt. Seth K. Fianya (RTD), Security Consultant and CEO Skipper Consult Ghana Limited advised that individuals engaged and interact with each other so they could identify and detect intruders and criminals who might enter their communities.

Group Capt. Fianya said communities should be able to form community watch groups to support the Police, especially at night to prevent criminal activities.

"There should be the provision of street lights in dark places to make the communities visible enough and also clear all bushes around to prevent criminals from using such places as their hideouts."

Group Capt. Fianya advised that communities hired a security expert to conduct vulnerability to threats assessment to help identify all illegal route, leading to communities and the distribution of lighting systems, especially in dark areas to prevent criminals from entering such communities.

Mr Napoleon Djokoto, an IT Expert and Manager of CTSL Limited in Takoradi, said most of the cyber crimes cases were a result of negligence on the part of individuals because many of them did not read the terms and conditions of mobile Applications (APPS) to be able to know whether they were genuine or not.

He urged individuals to be particular about the kind of information they sent out about their businesses and the kind of information they accessed from the internet since it could allow cyber fraudsters to steal important data that could destroy their businesses.

Mr Djokoto advised that individuals should be mindful of the contents put on their various social media platforms and other free apps they installed because it could render them vulnerable to cyber-attacks and make sure all apps being installed were from a trusted source.

The IT expert called on internet users to install antivirus on their computers and phones to prevent harmful apps and viruses from accessing information from their phones and use stronger passwords if possible "alpha numerics" and symbols to prevent cyber attacks on phones, computers and other electronic gadgets.

Mr Ransford Nana Osei Asare, Station Manager of Connect Fm, said though security agencies and other institutions were asking citizens to be security-conscious and alert, it was also important to have people with astute knowledge in security issues to educate them the more.

This, he said, would enable every individual to identify their role as citizens to be able to secure themselves against any security threat.

"We are trying to bring all facts to bear so that apart from what the security agencies are doing, individuals would also be able to protect themselves and be security conscious and alert as well."