EQUIP THE POLICE

THE police, no doubt, render invaluable services to the state on a daily basis through the performance of their core and other functions of maintaining public order, ensuring the safety of all citizens, preventing crime, detecting crime and apprehending offenders.
The challenges that the men and women of the Police Service face as they attempt to discharge these responsibilities in the cities, towns and villages across the country are enormous, particularly so because they lack essential resources which, in modern times, are required for effective policing.
The use of outdated weapons, the lack of modern telecommunication gadgets, inadequate means of transportation or the total lack of these at some police stations in the country have combined to drastically reduce the efficiency of the police.
The professional capabilities of the men and women of the service are further undermined by the problem of poor salaries and benefits, inadequate orientation and motivation and poor accommodation.
Just this month, the Commanding Officer of the Ghana Police Training School told this paper that the school was in dire need of modern training facilities to equip policemen and women with the necessary skills to fight modern-day crime.
He said that the training school also lacked basic structures such as classrooms with audio and video equipment, sleeping places for recruits and a gymnasium to physically condition recruits for the task ahead of them.
These are not the only problems facing the Police Service. But what is worrying is the fact that those in authority do not seem to appreciate the important role of the police in any modern society.
The same Ghanaian society which has given so little to the police expects so much from that same institution and, therefore, tends to turn a blind eye to the plight of our policemen.
Since the well-being of policemen are not catered for, their lives are being put into danger every day.
In November last year, policemen at the Akomadan Police Station in the Ashanti Region were forced to flee their duty post to escape the wrath of the rampaging youth of the area. In that same year, two policemen were seriously wounded when the youth of Teleku-Bokazo and Anwia in the Nzema East District of the Western Region went on rampage and vented their spleen on employees of a mining company.
And in April this year, the people of Awusakope in the South Tongu District of the Volta Region took four policemen hostage, disarmed them and assaulted them until they were rescued by reinforcement from Adidome.
What is more pathetic is that just last Tuesday armed robbers shot and killed a policeman when they stormed the Madina branch of ECOBANK and stole GH¢60,000 in broad daylight.
All these are happening because the police are not well equipped, trained and well motivated to deal with modern-day crime. They need more vehicles, modern communication equipment and modern riot control gear. These must be available to policemen at the station level and not only at the headquarters.
We, therefore, call on the authorities to motivate, resource and equip the police to combat the rising sophisticated crime wave in the country.
The training facilities of the police should be modernised and the officers reoriented to meet modern trends in policing.
The conditions of service of the police should also be urgently addressed and changes made to reflect present times.
It is imperative that we carry out these recommendations to improve policing in the country and protect the lives of all.