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Opinions of Friday, 6 April 2007

Columnist: Adu-Gyamfi, Kwaku

What Ghana Police Needs .....

It Needs In-Service Training to Hone its skills.

I GO to Ghana twice a year. And, every time I go, I try to take with me some crime- fighting tools for the Police Station, in my town. I also visit other police stations in my district. However, watching the Police personnel work really gave me a lot of information and sympathy. I realized that they need more help than the hand- cuffs, leg- irons and the Walkie-talkies, which I always give them. I detected that they need in-service training urgently, to hone their skills and keep abreast with time and crime fighting techniques.

The criminals in Ghana are getting very sophisticated and smart. So the Ghana Police force can’t be left behind, to be the casualty of time and technology. Given the wholesale dispense of our hospitality to our neighbors, the Ghana Police needs to sharpen its skills regularly. If they can’t afford crime fighting equipment, at least, they should be trained periodically, to learn the new ways of fighting 21st century crimes.

I have written extensively (in my previous articles) about the crime units which need to be created within the Police Service; if we want to see a modern day Police force in Ghana ,to fight the modern day crimes. But, I still would like to highlight on them here again.

I recommended the creation of the following units within the Ghana Police Service, immediately:

1) A Gang and Organized crime unit, to penetrate into the crime-infected neighborhoods and town in Ghana.

2) A Special sexual Assault unit to investigate and fight sex related crimes against women and children.

3) DNA Lab unit, to solve suspicious homicides, robbery and burglaries—using hair samples and drops of sweat or saliva.

4) Fraud and white collar crime unit, to fight the newly-imported crimes coming from our neighbors.

5) Electronic Crime units, to fight computer and Cell phone related crimes. We need to have an access to the Hard Drives of the criminals’ computers. We should also have the ability to track every criminal’s cell phone calls, for investigation purposes.

6) There is also a need to have dogs in every Police station, as a major part of our crime –fighting arsenals.

However, the immediate needs of the Police Service personnel are very simple: techniques in hand-cuffing, effective Police Report Writing skills, Basic skills in Suspect Transportation security— like going to courts and medical trips , Security checks of locking devices and holding -cells , the use of non-deadly force, the use of constructive authority— like your voice or gesture, Physical contact skills, basic security cautious Policing and self-defense take –down techniques . These skills are very basics of the Police work, which can safe lives and manpower. And, they’re relatively cheaper to implement and their benefits are enormous.

These are just a few of many basic skills and tools the Ghana Police personnel needs. I have more to add to the list. But, I doubt if anyone will touch them with Michael Jackson’s gloves. Why we’re fighting 21st century crimes with primitive skills? .We have to keep tempo with time, to enable our police force to play its role effectively. .

Kwaku Adu-Gyamfi
NJ, USA
The writer’s a social commentator , the founder of Adu-Gyamfi Youth Empowerment


Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.