Police Patrol University Campuses

The Ghana Police Service has intensified patrols on the campuses of selected universities and other educational institutions in the Greater Accra Region.

In line with that, police horse and motorcycle riders, intelligence gathering teams in plain clothes, as well as mobile snap checkpoints, have been deployed on the campuses to ensure security.

The police teams are drawn from the Airport, Legon and Adenta Police commands, joined by officers from Police Mounted Squadron units.

This forms part of the remodeled police-public engagement strategy to ensure safer communities.

Last Friday, police commanders at the divisional, district and station levels visited the University of Ghana, Legon, the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), the Valley View University, Oyibi and some institutions close to the universities to interact with their management, staff, students and commercial entities within those enclaves.

They mapped out strategies to address security challenges in those areas, in collaboration with community members.

The measures are in line with activities commenced by the Police Administration under the Inspector General of Police, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, to deal with the security situation in the country.

Other activities include the touring of regions with some members of the Police Management Board (POMAB) to interact with various stakeholders on security matters.

The exercise is being continued by various regional, divisional and district police commanders, and so far such engagements have been carried out in the Tema, Accra, Savannah and Bono Police regions.

Objective

In an interview, the Director-General of the Public Affairs Directorate of the Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Kwesi Ofori, explained that the exercise was part of a concept aimed at winning back the support, trust and respect of the public.

He said it was also part of an objective to deliver responsive policing in various communities in the country, after understanding their security needs and devise strategies to combat such challenges.

DCOP Ofori also said that his outfit had commenced reforms and strategies to instill professionalism in the service to restore public confidence and legitimacy in it.

"The police require public trust to do their work well. It is in recognition of this that we are implementing various trust-building strategies to gain the confidence of the public.

"This is because when the police are trusted, they can do their work more efficiently and effectively and citizens will feel more secure. The police represent the authority of state and, therefore, trust in the police also reflects the legitimacy of the state as a whole," he further said.

DCOP Ofori said he was optimistic the interactions with various stakeholders would bolster the trust and communication between the police and the people for effective intelligence gathering.

Source: graphiconline.com