Increasing reports of violent crime and the drug trade in Ghana have elicited a strong response from the Police High Command. In a rare encounter between the police top brass and the Editorial Board of the Daily Graphic last Tuesday, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong, laid things bare, responding to questions on allegations against some senior police officers dealing in drugs, rampant armed robbery in the country's major cities, bloodshed in Bawku, Ashaiman and other flash points, to frustrations within his officers and men of the service. The IGP was accompanied by the Director-General of Police Operations, Mr Patrick Timbilah; the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, Mr James Oppong Boanuah; the Executive Secretary and Staff Officer to the IGP, Superintendent Lydia Donkor; the Director of Police Public Affairs, Mr Kwesi Ofori, and his deputy, Assistant Superintendent of Police Mr Cephas Arthur. And the IGP minced no words in affirming his own conviction that without a national policy or legislation that would compel estate developers and city planners to provide for police stations at all new settlements, existing police facilities would continue to be stretched thin in the fight against crime in all its manifestations. He drew attention to the development of new and sprawling estates comprising huge mansions and palaces, shopping malls, clinics, playing fields and learning institutions, without any efforts at providing for police stations. If that pattern in the country's development agenda was allowed to continue, Mr Acheampong foresaw the persistence of the situation where police vehicles, ammunition, guns and men were deployed from far away stations like Accra Central, Osu, Odorkor and Thma to carry out patrol duties in areas such as Sakumono, Adjiriganno and Sowutuom. The solution, he said, called for a collective resolve by all Ghanaians to include the country's security needs in its overall development agenda. But the current situation, Mr Acheampong affirmed, in no way suggested that the police were losing the battle against drugs and crime. He outlined new measures the police had put in place to match the scale of the current demands. They included day and night patrols in the vulnerable areas, with new tactics that included the use of different sets of vehicles for day and night patrols. Expatiating, the IGP said the police had also updated their communication networks to assist those in distress to reach the police for assistance. He explained that one of the strategies being used by the police was the swoops on suspected dens of criminals where many people were arrested in a bid to identify the criminals. He said in those exercises, the police hierarchy was mindful not to trample on the rights of those who were suspected to be criminals, hence the screening exercises. He said the police had been liaising with the Southern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces to organise joint operations during the day and night in an aggressive manner. On community policing or what is known in Ghana as watch committees, the IGP said the idea was not catching on because the people who joined it saw it as a form of employment and not their contribution towards a secured environment. For that reason, those who joined the watch committees expected payment from the committees; he said, explaining that as a result of that in no time the enthusiasm died down. He also noted that because of the lack of public complement for police activities, the human resource of the police was overstretched. He reminded Ghanaians not to play politics with security matters, saying that on the campaign trail politicians made all manner of comments but efforts were not being made to cure the problem. He said players in the criminal justice system, such as the AG's Department, the police, the courts and the Department of Social Welfare, would not condone crime. He said when deviants attacked the police, people expected the policemen to stand aloof, saying, when the policemen applied force to defend themselves, there was a hue and cry. He said there was a lack of public understanding of the duties of the police, citing, for instance, public outcry against the police for devising ways to maintain security. Responding to a question as to whether police internal disciplinary measures were deterrent enough, he said the Police Service would be considered to have no patience for indiscipline, as many police officers had been dismissed in compliance with the Police Service Act. Sometimes, he said, the police officer who faced service enquiry also faced criminal justice, thereby suffering double jeopardy. On traffic lights, he said the sheer number in Accra made it highly impossible for the police to police them all when they were not functioning, adding that although the problem of frequent breakdown of traffic lights was an engineering one, the people expected the police to fix it. The IGP said while people complained about police inefficiency, they had lost sight of the -number of policemen, as against the population spread. He said the police woefully lacked logistics, saying that armoured carriers which were procured during the Acheampong era had not been replaced. He said it was expensive to convert vehicles to riot control weapons, noting that a new armoured vehicle cost about one million euros. He said the police would need 50 of such vehicles and four each would be required to be stationed at flash points such as Yendi, Tamale, Bawku and Auloga to maintain maximum security. The IGP reiterated that the police would win the war against drug dealers or pushers, saying that statistics did not support the fact that the drug trade had taken over Ghana. He said because Ghana had become a safer place to live where travelers were not harassed, all manner of people used the country’s ports. He said people should stop accusing the police of wrongs they had not done, adding that if the people lost confidence in the police, society suffered. Mr Acheampong discounted claims in certain quarters that the police were drug-tainted, saying that the police had in some instances, opened its doors for scrutiny for alleged drug offences levelled against their officers. He added that the police were only involved in four arrests relating to drug offences and yet all cocaine hauls in the country were linked to them, leaving statutory bodies empowered to do so. Source: Daily Graphic