By Joyce Danso
Accra, Sept. 16, GNA- The Police Administration says it is taking pragmatic steps to weed out miscreants and criminals masquerading in Police uniforms from the service to restore its reputation and good image.
“Police administration in pursuit of this avowed aim, will not countenance any acts of bribery, extortion, corruptible activities and worse of all, Police personnel involvement in violent crimes such as robbery.”
Commissioner of Police (COP) Mr Paul Manly Awini, Director-General, National Patrols Department, Ghana Police Service, said this at the Passing out parade of the 2022 second batch of 230 Police recruits at the Ghana Police Service Training School, Tesano, Accra.
The 230 recruits, made up of 156 females, displayed an excellent parade standard of drills and put out a smart turnout after six months of training.
COP Awini was optimistic that the recruits would work hard and be disciplined in their field of work and as true ambassadors of the current Policing training model.
The Director-General of the National Patrols Department noted that emerging crimes such as terrorism, cyber-related crimes, and changes in the modus operandi of criminals had been a challenge to the service.
According to him, “these have translated into an increased demand on the personnel of the Ghana Police Service to deliver services that were more diverse, complex, skilled, and specialised to deal with the current crime trend.”
He said that explained why the Inspector General of Police had introduced a paradigm shift in recruits training modules and the service was changing its focus on policing in the country.
Some of the modules he mentioned included Police accountability, adherence to human rights standards, ethical conduct of personnel, abhorrence to corruption, client management and customer care.
COP Awini said the Police administration had also introduced some soft skills to complement the field and practical activities.
He mentioned those activities as riding, driving, swimming, crowd control, Incident and disaster management, radio communication arrest and search procedures.
COP observed that the increase in police motorbike patrols introduced in recent times had reduced the fear of crime and the incidence of crime.
“Very soon you will see the intensification of the Police motorbike patrols at every nook and cranny of the country as part of measures to revitalize Police visibility and accessibility patrols.”
On terrorism, COP Awini said the act had become a global threat, adding some neighbouring countries had experienced some form of terrorist attacks.
“We cannot, therefore, fold your arms and wait for the worst to happen. It has, thus become imperative to prepare our personnel to adequately respond to this threat.”
Policewoman Recruit Gifty Boahemaa Kwapong was adjudged the overall National Best Recruit while Samuel Adu Bechie emerged as the best Graduate Recruit.
Nine recruits were given various awards as Best Drivers, and Best in Conduct, among others.
GNA