Police Service must establish a Forensic Unit in every region - Criminologist

A lecturer and criminologist, Edgar Tachie Akonnor, is advocating for every regional command in Ghana to have a forensic department to ensure efficiency in their work.

He opined that the Ghana Police Service have competent and skilled service personnel to deal with crime in Ghana but what they need is logistics.

He stated that servicemen in the country have what it takes in unravelling crime but need to improve on the logistics they have.

Mr. Tachie Akonnor said it is not advisable for a Police Commands to drive to the National Headquarters before accessing the forensic department.

The best approach in his view is for every regional command to have its own forensic unit.

”I strongly believe that all the regions should have the full complement of logistics so they would stop coming to Accra. The Police Service has the expertise but what they need is the decentralisation of the forensic unit.”

Crime is complex, and evidence gathering is essential, and the more you delay in gathering evidence, the less you can prosecute your cases,” he said.

Meanwhile, he has advised the Police Service to collaborate with academia in dealing with criminal issues so the rate of crime would be reduced.

He explained that through research, experts could evaluate the pattern of crime, the reasons behind it, and propose ways to reduce crime.

Crime-fighting, he added, must be towards the preventive leg through collaboration with the general public.