THE new Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, has given strong indications of building a law enforcement machinery that will provide approved and acceptable services for all its stakeholders.
We know that the task ahead of the IGP is Herculean, in view of the fact that previous attempts at reforms faced internal resistance.
The irony of the situation in the Ghana Police Service is that whereas the personnel complain of lack of a clear direction to bring about improvement in their conditions, they resist any attempt at reforming the service.
The police are perceived by some members of the public as corrupt and, indeed, certain research data reveal that the Ghana Police Service is one of the most corrupt institutions in the country.
A committee set up to probe the service in 1979 drew the conclusion that it stank, while the Justice Archer Committee which looked into the service some years later also did not give any positive impression about police personnel.
We can understand the reasons for the low morale in the Police Service. A visit to any of the barracks of the service gives a rather dehumanising spectacle of the conditions under which the personnel live.
Some of the personnel who have the means have improvised structures just to accommodate themselves and their families, while others live in single rooms with their families, with its health implications.
Vehicles and other logistics such as communication gadgets are inadequate to help the police to discharge their duties more effectively.
The Ghana Police Service is a key institution in the fight against crime. That being the case, the public have always been encouraged to support police personnel in crime combat. To demonstrate its readiness to partner members of the public in the fight against crime, the Police Administration has posted bold notices at all police facilities that say that the public is an ally.
Unfortunately, certain actions by some personnel of the service do not give any signal that they want to live by their own slogan. More often than not, the actions of the police show that the public is, regrettably, their foe.
Another factor which is inhibiting crime combat is the inaccessibility of sprawling neighbourhoods because of inaccessible roads, unnumbered houses and streets. Therefore, anytime the police have to respond to distressed calls, they spend precious time listening to directions on phone.
Again, the criminals are becoming more sophisticated than the police. On many occasions they are able to outwit the law enforcement agencies. It is about time the police devised new techniques in crime combat in order to break the back of criminals, particularly the hardened ones such as cyber fraudsters, armed robbers and drug addicts.
Whatever the challenges are, the DAILY GRAPHIC believes that crime combat can only be successful if the members of the public collaborate with the police.
The criminals live in our communities. They also have relatives and friends who can help the police to take the fight to them if they provide information on the hideouts of the criminals.
The DAILY GRAPHIC wishes the new IGP a successful tenure. It is our hope that with support from the rank and file of the police, Mr Quaye will be able to reshape the image of the police for the better.
We congratulate the new IGP on his appointment and wish him well in his new endeavour.
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