THE administration of the Ghana Police Service has commenced a national public engagement to build a new image, improve the integrity of the service, and build a robust policing system.
The engagement is also to position and make the police one of the most effective and respectable institutions.
The effort is also meant to solicit public support to enable the service to regain respect from the public and to respond to questions bothering the public.
Police visibility
Addressing students, lecturers and the administration of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Sunyani in the Bono Region, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, gave an assurance that the police would put in place systems at university campuses to improve security within the institutions.
He explained that the police would implement police visibility and police undercover in all tertiary institutions across the country to provide the appropriate environment for enhanced studies.
He said these systems would help the police to identify all routes linking the universities to position police visibility and intelligence components.
He said the systems would also help to check criminals to protect students and create a peaceful atmosphere for studies.
He said the police would soon deploy about five motorbikes purposely for the UENR campus to improve police visibility on campus and routes leading to the various student hostels.
Commendation
Dr Dampare commended the regional and district officers of the police for working hard to promote law and order across the country and urged them to continue to give off their best for the country.
He explained that if the policemen failed to ensure a peaceful atmosphere for civilians, they would suffer the chaotic environment they did not cure when they retire and become civilians.
“Very soon we will retire from the police service and will be civilians, and we will not have the privilege of enjoying all the security we have now.
“So we need to do everything to make the police service better than what we came to find,” he said.
Dr Dampare explained that the police administration was passionate about the peace and security of the country, and put in the necessary measures to achieve its objectives.
The Director-General of Police in charge of the Patrols Department, Commissioner of Police (COP) Paul Manly Awuni, said it was the target of the current administration to make the police one of the most respectable institutions in the country.
COP Awuni said the police service was working hard to promote peace and security, and to create an enabling environment for the public to work.
Issues
Students of the university appealed to the IGP to facilitate the provision of traffic lights to help them cross the Sunyani-Berekum-Dormaa highway to the campus.
They also called on the IGP to help to improve police visibility in and around the university campus to protect them from criminals.
As part of his visit to the region, Dr Dampare paid a courtesy call to the Sunyani Traditional Council and visited the Sunyani Technical University (STU) police post.
The Vice-Chancellor of UENR, Prof. Elvis Asare-Bediako, called on the IGP to establish a police station between the university and the Fiapre community to improve police presence.
He commended the IGP for his commitment towards maintaining law and order, explaining that under his administration, the country had witnessed improved peace and security.
