Security Expert, Dr. Kwasi Anning has predicted that without proper restructuring, the Ghana Police Service is likely to experience further attacks from miscreants in the society.
According to him, the situation will get worse if the country does not undertake specific structural changes in its concept of policing which includes police accountability, police professionalism and improvement in police-community relations.
“What we are seeing is just the tip of the iceberg. The Ghana Police Service, useful and important as it is over the past 40 years has been underfunded, manipulated intimidated to such an extent that the ethos of the service itself is lost on quite a number of the men and women.” The security analyst indicated.
Over the past few years, personnel of the police service have been victims of brutality and gruesome deaths.
Five police officers have been killed in the line of duty within the last 30 days. Many security experts have attributed it to the lack of logistics for police personnel who ensure law and order in the country.
The latest is the gory killing of two policemen by some men at Kasoa.
But Dr Aning stated that police service’s inability to project its own institutional identity in a way robs off the public who then misconstrues the challenges that the service faces and then decide to take the law into its own hands which, he posited, is totally unacceptable and criminal.
He noted also that this lack of confidence and disrespect for the service has grown over time translating into actual violence against the police and their infrastructure.
“Unfortunately, these criminal acts of attacking the men and women of the service and attacking their infrastructure, burning it down, without any consistent sustained punishment and the usage of the law creates the impression that to attack a police officer is accepted.” He stressed.
He, therefore, suggested that the justice system should work intensely to restore the faith of the people in the security service by equipping the police with appropriate training and skills to combat crimes.
Meanwhile, the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery has directed the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) to immediately arm officers who are on traffic duty.
He said James Oppong Boanuh should provide the officers with bullet-proof vests and helmets to enable them “exercise their right to self-defence effectively when they meet such callous and barbaric persons”.
