END OF CULTURE OF APATHY NOW (MAY 22, 2010)

ARMED robbery remains a major challenge to the country’s internal security, despite efforts being made by the Ghana Police Service and other security agencies to address the canker.
Although records indicate that there has been a reduction in the number of armed robbery cases, the situation is still alarming and raises some serious concerns.
The police, in a bid to improve security in the country, have intensified their patrols and mounted some checkpoints to monitor vehicular movement.
While such worthy initiatives by the police are commendable, they have not made the desired impact as a result of some operational challenges.
The recent report of the false information given by a gang of robbers to a police patrol team in order to divert the attention of the police to enable the robbers to go on a robbery spree mirrors some of the operational challenges the police face in their patrol activities.
According to a media report, the robbers diverted the police to a location about six kilometres away from the robbery scene and proceeded to attack four homes at Adenta, leaving one of their victims critically wounded.
In response to the incident, the Adenta District Police Commander, DSP Stephen K. Ahiatafu, noted that although the district was well resourced with men to deal with armed robbery, lack of information from residents was not helping matters.
Indeed, this is an issue that continues to impair efforts aimed at addressing the crime wave in the country, particularly armed robbery. While there may be people privy to the activities of criminals in their communities, the culture of apathy is so ingrained that residents are unwilling to volunteer information to the police.
On many occasions, residents who may be aware of robbery activities in their neighbourhood get so scared that they get themselves cocooned in their blankets and fail to alert the police through simple phone calls to enable the police to come to the rescue of their neighbours.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, recently expressed worry over the fact that security issues were usually considered an afterthought by many Ghanaians, although it was one of the most important prerequisites for socio-economic development.
He bemoaned the tendency among many Ghanaians to alert the police only after robberies had taken place and said that attitude was usually founded on the wrong notion that the provision of security was the sole preserve of the police and other security agencies.
This clearly places a onerous responsibility on the police to intensify their public engagement and educational activities, bearing in mind that the citizenry have a key role to play in the fight against crime.
The police have consistently advertised emergency and crime fighters’ numbers that residents can call in times of trouble but, sad to relate, many Ghanaians do not keep those numbers, for which reason anytime robbers strike we are all left helpless.
In this regard, the issue of neighbourhood watch committees again comes to the fore and the DAILY GRAPHIC believes it is time for the police to help revive those committees to support the police in the fight against crime, particularly armed robbery.
It is our hope that Ghanaians will endeavour to be one another’s keeper and contribute more meaningfully to the fight against criminal activities such as armed robbery by volunteering information to the police.