By Naa Shormei Odonkor
Koforidua, Sept. 18, GNA – The Eastern Regional Police Training School has graduated 171 general recruits, but they are all men.
The recruits were part of the second batch to graduate from the Eastern Regional Police Training School this year, with the mission of combating growing crime and maintaining law and order in the country.
Leaders of various security services, including the Ghana Fire Service, Ghana Immigration Service, and the Ghana Police Service’s Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate, as well as other stakeholders, attended the event on Friday.
Four recruits received honours in the categories of best conduct, best in the drill, best marks-man, and overall best recruit.
The recruits, commanded by Lance Corporal Manfred Egbadewe, demonstrated their skills in various drills while appreciating 70 years of women in policing in Ghana by composing the words: “70 years of women in policing in Ghana, Bravo.”
Mrs Habiba Y.A.T. Sarpong, Commissioner of Police (COP), Director-General of GPS Welfare, and the reviewing officer stated that emerging crimes demanded more diverse and complex skills from the police.
As a result, she noted, the recruits were not only trained in soft skills such as riding, diving, swimming, radio communication, arrest and search procedures, and disaster management, but also hard skills such as combat and disaster management.
However, they were taught to achieve world-class standards through a paradigm shift in recruit training modules introduced by the Inspector General of Police.
“This, he did, by standardising recruit training modules underpinned by proactive policing strategies, police accountability, ethical conduct of personnel, adherence to Human Rights Standards in law enforcement, eschewing corruption, civility to the general public, client management and customer care,” COP Sarpong said.
She also said all the 171 recruits were taken to the High-Risk Operation Training School in the Yilo Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region to ensure they were properly equipped to be able to respond to terrorist strikes.
“Terrorism has become a global threat,” she stated. “So far, almost all our neighbouring countries have experienced some form of a terrorist attack. We, therefore, cannot fold our arms to wait for it to happen.”
COP commended General Recruit Solomon Martey Asegri for placing fifth in the National Recruits Standardised Examination out of 1,372 candidates.
She further praised the Eastern Regional Police Training School, under the command of Superintendent Mrs Charity O. Amankwa, for being the highest performing school in the recent National Recruits Standardised Examination.
COP Sarpong advised newly admitted recruits to prioritise police relations with the public at large since the wider populace plays a significant part in dealing with crimes.
GNA