The Ghana Police Service has said that there is no upsurge in crime in the country. According to the Police Administration, the Service is on top of the security situation in the country and remains committed to its crime-fighting efforts, a statement signed by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Kwesi Ofori, Director-General, Public Affairs said.
It said the Police fought crime every day and treated every crime with the same urgency and same professional attitude, and regretted the loss of every life.
The statement said the Police Service had taken note of the statement issued by the Ghana Bar Association, GBA, with reference to the murder of a member of the GBA, Mr Richard Badombie on the Bole- Bamboi highway.
It said since the incident occurred, the Police had been working around the clock as they did on all such cases to get to the bottom of it and get the perpetrators arrested and brought to justice.
Whilst the Daily Searchlight believes that the police has to have their say, we believe that merely engaging in a ‘gung-ho’ defence of the current situation is not good enough.
The fact of the matter is that off late there has been numerous reports of major crimes, some affecting the police, some committed by police men, and some even taking place in police stations. We speak of the upsurge of people who die in police custody.
It is also a clear fact that Ghana does not have nearly enough police personnel. It is also a fact that the police, currently, seem to be ill-trained and ill-equipped to deal with certain crimes. For instance, according to the statement issued by the police in this particular case, they are depending on the results of ‘interrogation’ to prove a prima facie case against some suspects. Granted that ‘interrogation’ is a police method, it is also a fact that scientific evidence would stand up better in court. When a shooting has occurred, there must be guns, bullets and other such forensic evidence that are recoverable to connect suspects to crimes. Forcing confessions may cast the prosecution in a certain light, and we may also pose the question whether the ‘interrogation’ is being conducted under appropriate legal conditions.
We believe that the police should adopt a less combative stance on calls to ensure security. That is the only way that they can engender public confidence in the institution.
