<<Print>>

Commissioner of Police (COP) Prosper Kwame Agblor, who is also the Director-General, Legal and Prosecutions, Ghana Police Service on Tuesday called on crime fighters to encourage cross-border partnerships to strengthen their ability to combat the crime of all forms.

He said in an era where the crime had taken on a regional and global nature, such partnerships were needed to build a modern and responsive Police to detect and prevent crime, apprehend offenders and prosecute them according to law.

COP Agblor said this on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the Attorney General Alliance (AGA-Africa) Annual Conference, the first of its kind to be hosted on the African continent.

The two-day conference, being organized by the AGA-Africa in collaboration with Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Police is on the theme: “Tackling the Reality of Transnational Crime in Africa-Cross Border Solutions and International Cooperation”.

He said the relationship that existed between AGA and the Police led to the Alliance sending two Attorneys in May, 2019 to facilitate a workshop on cybercrime and electronic evidence for 50 selected officers from the Police and Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).

COP Agblor said the training equipped the officers and investigators with skills to investigate crimes like money laundering and encouraging collaboration with other stakeholders in the Justice, Law and Order Sector in Ghana.

He said the Police had built collaboration with the other Law Enforcement Agencies in West Africa in the fight against crime through the National Central Bureau of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), which is a Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Police service.

He said the Police Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) succeeded in conducting over 550 investigations into suspected human trafficking cases between 2015 and 2018.

Mr Agblor said the capacity of the Cybercrime Unit had been improved to confront and neutralize the criminal and dark underbelly of modern technology and the cyber-world.

Madam Karen White, AGA Executive Director said in order to boost the fight against Transnational Crimes, they had recently completed a training programme for its partners and Attorneys from other countries to help develop the requisite skills to prosecute people charged with such crimes.

She said AGA shares ideas and techniques across countries to equip them with emerging knowledge and changing trends of combatting such crimes even as crime perpetrators also modify their techniques.

She called on partners in Africa to strengthen their ties with the Alliance so that together, they can record significant strides in the fight against transnational crimes.