BRAVO, GHANA POLICE SERVICE (NOV 10)

IT is not an easy task watching over others while they relax or sleep in comfort, irrespective of the time of the day.
As a principal law enforcement instrument of the state, the police have the onerous responsibility to ensure that the country’s laws are complied with and, where they are not, those engaged in the offensive acts are apprehended and made to face the full rigours of the law.
In recent times, the public spotlight has been on the police, in the face of the eruption of a number of crimes, in particular armed robbery, in some parts of the country.
The rather brazen manner in which some of these robberies are carried out and where they have been staged have evoked concerns over public safety from across the social strata.
The brazen robberies staged against bullion vans at Madina and other places last year have been replicated this year, with the police paying dearly through the loss of their officers.
But, just as the perpetrators of these criminal acts appeared to have seized the initiative, the police have struck back, nipping in the bud a number of criminal gangs plotting to unleash terror on innocent members of society.
Only last weekend, members of a criminal gang which reportedly robbed a bullion van and shot and killed a policeman were nabbed and the suspects put in protective custody.
Information obtained from the suspects, as well as other sources, has since led the police to effect more arrests, with the hunt continuing for the rest of those criminal gangs.
We take this opportunity to salute National Security, the Police Administration and the military for their joint efforts at unmasking these criminal gangs and preparing them to face the law.
Smoking out criminals and, more specifically, arresting and successfully prosecuting them are no mean achievements.
They require, among others, the gathering, synthesising and co-ordination of intelligence, planning and co-ordination of assault on the dens of criminals, vigilance and dedication to the job and, above all, an abundance of courage and fortitude in physically confronting and breaking the back of the criminals.
We are particularly impressed about the speed with which the perpetrators of these recent robberies have been arrested. This gives a clear indication that given the requisite level of support, our security officers can and will deliver to the public’s expectation.
While giving them a pat on their backs for a good job done, we hasten to remind our security officers that the job is far from finished and that they need to maintain or even increase their current levels of vigilance and competence to deal with outstanding crimes and even those that the criminals are planning to unleash on society.
We believe it is within the remit of civil responsibility and the best societal interest for people to volunteer vital information on criminals and their hideouts and be more forthcoming with other forms of co-operation to anchor our security officers to turn on the heat and finish the job.
The task of attaining and securing a safer and sounder society with a minimum level of threat to lives and property is a collective one and it behoves all of us to work together to rout these social misfits.