MRS Elizabeth Mills-Robertson, the first policewoman to act as Inspector General of Police, has assumed office at a time when the Ghana Police Service faces many daunting challenges.
For many, her ascendancy to that office is an affirmation of the commitment of the government to give women the opportunity to serve in positions that require them to exhibit a high level of professionalism.
The fact that a lady has been given the topmost position in the service, albeit, in an acting capacity, again reinforces the belief that our women have the potential to rise to the occasion when the mantle falls on them.
The new IGP has pledged to wage a relentless war on criminal activities throughout the country. On her first day in office, she chaired a meeting of the Police Headquarters Advisory Board, the second highest organ of the service after the Police Council.
Some years ago, serious crimes, such as armed robbery, drug trade, rape and white collar crimes were virtually unknown or within manageable limits. Presently, some of our contemporaries involved in armed robbery are armed to the teeth and adopt other high tech methods to undertake their nefarious activities, while the law enforcement agencies, particularly the police, combat crime without the needed logistics.
Although some attempts have been made to equip the Ghana Police Service, a lot more needs to be done to bring the police in line with the realities of the crime situation. Morale in the service is also not the best as our policemen and women are poorly paid. Other conditions of service like accommodation are appalling. Police personnel who are lucky to be provided with official accommodation live with their families in dehumanising environments.
Clearly, the task ahead requires that all Ghanaians, particularly those in the police service, rally round the acting IGP to address the worrying crime wave in the country.
It is the hope of the DAILY GRAPHIC that Mrs Mills-Robertson will initiate steps to buoy public confidence in the country’s police service. The service had had its reputation seriously battered in the past and we dare say that this is the time for redemption.
But we know that crime combat can be successful only if society collaborates with our security agencies to expose criminal gangs in our midst. The people who cause us pain through certain deviant behaviour live in the communities with us and it is only when we provide information on such dangerous characters that the police can nip their activities in the bud. More often than not these criminal gangs, by their bravado in the execution of their acts, turn to hold society to ransom and thereby create insecurity.
A secured environment engenders economic development. That is why all of us must take an interest in the work of the police and support them to break the back of criminal gangs. The price that we pay for our refusal to be true allies of the police in combating crime can be fatal.
Sadly, many of our contemporaries have lost lives, limbs or property just because they refused to surrender to these dangerous gangs, who have decided to reap where they have not sown.
While admitting that the police need public support to fight crime, it is important for police personnel to take advantage of the new dawn to place society above all considerations and principles. They must redeem their image of being corrupt and extorting from the public.
Information given to them by members of the public should be treated with strict confidentiality instead of the current situation where some personnel expose informants to risk by disclosing their identities to criminals.
Madam IGP, we welcome you to the seat. We also salute you on your new appointment. We hope that you bring your years of experience to bear on the efforts to fight crime.
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