The Kaneshie Police yesterday invaded the hide-outs of criminals in the area and arrested 37 people alleged to be engaged in drug peddling and other related crimes.
The alleged criminals are between the ages of 18 and 51 years comprising a lady and 36 men.
They were arrested when the police launched a swoop on them in the Kaneshie-Dansoman Station, Abossey Okai, Mataheko, Atico and Cable and Wireless areas, which are all under the jurisdiction of the Kaneshie District Police Command.
The operation, which commenced at 8am and ended at 11 am, is a continuation of a similar swoop conducted about a month ago where 77 suspected criminals were arrested.
Chief Superintendent Sleance Adikah, District Commander of the Kaneshie Police Station, said some of the suspects were arrested while smoking leaves suspected to be Indian hemp or with slabs of Indian hemp hidden in their rooms.
He explained that those arrested would be screened and processed for court latest by Thursday, May 2, 2013.
The screening, he said, would include taking the pictures of the arrested suspects and their finger prints as part of a profiling procedure, which would be kept and compared with others in the systems to verify if any of them had been involved in previous crime.
�In case of a repetition of a finger print or picture of any of the people we have arrested we can know how to deal with them,� he said.
Most of the suspects, the District Commander noted, were arrested around public toilets. �We have information from the public that this is where they normally build their dens and carry out their criminal activities such as burglary, robbery and pilfering, among others�, he said.
The aim of the recent swoops, he noted, was to �make the criminals uncomfortable in these areas so that they would leave and find proper jobs.�
He said that the swoops had been very effective, since none of the suspects arrested was from the past operation. �Some of the criminals from the last operation were convicted for one week and had been released but they were not among the people we arrested today. It means we have been able to get them to leave those places.�
He urged the public to expect more of such operations whilst advising that people in communities, where such criminals live, should collaborate with the police by giving information on their activities.
�The public must give us information because they are the ones who live with them. There are instances where close relatives are known to be criminals and the public must be ready to give them up for the safety of society,� he admonished.
The Kaneshie District Commander noted that drug use and crime are related �when they are high after taking the drug, they engage in criminal activities and sometimes when they want money to buy the drugs they have no option but to steal.
When the criminals are arrested and prosecuted, the police commander said, �They are able to change because when they are released some of them do not go back.�
<<Print>>