The famous Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kofi Boakye has restated his commitment to flush out armed robbers who have been terrorizing residents of the region, saying that the robbers are \u201cscattered and uneducated,\u201d and can easily be defeated.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe are more than the armed robbers; we are far more than them so how do we allow them to defeat us? They are not rebel groups; just scattered, uneducated armed robbers who are not even knowledgeable in what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”BodEaXL0Q8ayBiDMD0kN5FLBQDPuvKnC”]DCOP Boakye was certain that the war against armed robbery can be won because Ghanaians outnumber the perpetrators of the crime who employ amateurish techniques in carrying out their criminal deeds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy don\u2019t we come together because if you leave it to the Police alone, based on man power constraints, logistics constraints, bad roads, unidentified buildings and all these combined makes it quite challenging to fight,\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Public Trust<\/strong><\/p>\n The Ashanti Regional Police Commander since his transfer to the region some months ago has chalked some major successes such as arresting the most notorious armed robber in the region who had been terrorizing residents.<\/p>\n In an interview on Accra based Joy FM, DCOP Boakye said he has received tremendous support from residents and leaders in the region following the efficiency with which his men carry out their duties.<\/p>\n According to him, he has been able to open up Police stations in almost every community in the Ashanti Region and provide them with the needed logistics with support from the residents.<\/p>\n \u201cAll boils down to the trust that people have in you,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cthe trust will come based on the competency that the people will see the Police exhibiting and also if they see the Police going by their core mandate of preventing crime and even if the crime happens, they have the trust that the Police will arrest the people.\u201d<\/p>\n Secured Police Stations<\/strong><\/p>\n DCOP \u00a0Kofi Boakye also mentioned that beefing up security at the various Police Stations will instill fear in criminals and help reduce crime.<\/p>\n He was of the view that if Police Stations are \u201clike market places where any Tom, Dick and Harry can just pass through, then it makes it quite problematic. If you can\u2019t protect yourself, how do you protect other people?\u201d<\/p>\n Corruption in Police Service<\/strong><\/p>\n Responding to the recent Afrobarometer report which ranked the Ghana Police Service as the most corrupt public institution in Ghana, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander blatantly disagreed with the findings.<\/p>\n \u201cI will not fault them but I don\u2019t agree with them. How much do Policemen collect on the road in a day and how much do white collar crimes collect? So are they talking about the frequency of collection, the interaction with people or the quantum?\u201d he queried.<\/p>\n He warned that simplifying corruption in terms of money collection is flawed because there are bigger issues that \u201ccollecting bribes so Afrobarometer should look again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t simplify corruption into only people taking 10 percent of contract fees and policemen collecting money.\u201d<\/p>\n He however admitted that sometimes, the Police administration is embarrassed by the behaviour of some its personnel on the road.<\/p>\n Corruption is cultural<\/strong><\/p>\n DCOP \u00a0Kofi Boakye said corruption in Ghana is cultural, adding that there are various forms of corruption including, nepotism, influence peddling, patronage, favouritism and old boyism.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are all corruption because within the sentiments of gratitude and reciprocity lies the seed of corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s part of our culture so we have to fight the culture\u2026they are things that we\u2019ve done over the years which have really encouraged corruptible acts,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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