Modern Policing Not the Preserve of Police Administration ─ DCOP Duku

The Western Regional Police Commander, DCOP Mr Kwasi Mensah Duku, has stated that modern policing is not the preserve of Police Administration but a shared responsibility between the police and the public.

He in this regard urged the police to nurture public trust by holding themselves to the highest standard of performance, professionalism, integrity and ethics.

DCOP Duku said this at the opening of a day’s sensitisation workshop on the “Ghana Police Transformation Agenda”, for senior police officers and district commanders drawn from all the districts in the Western Region in Takoradi.

He noted that “some police personnel frequently resist change and prefer the status quo, we know the police culture is tremendously strong, but remember that a huge ship can be turned by a small rudder”

DCOP Duku tasked them to accept the fact that change was occurring and would continue to occur and that the successful implementation of the Transformational Agenda would require a complete personnel philosophical and attitudinal change in the members of the service.

The training workshop Sponsored by the Hans Seidel Foundation, a German Organisation is  to enable the police officers understand  the Transformation Agenda  and   in turn train other policemen  to make the Ghana Police  service the best in Africa and the best 10 in the world.

The Regional Police Commander noted that over the last three decades, the world had changed rapidly and significantly due to ICT, demographic changes, shifting values and Citizen fear of crime, emergence of internet, computers, e-commerce, e-banking are all evident of global.

He said crime had also become more sophisticated than ever, which he noted called for a paradigm shift in the approach to the performance of police duties and that the Ghana Police service therefore cannot continue to discharge their duties in the same old way, “we cannot simply lag behind the modernisation of our communities”.

DCOP Duku pointed out that it was in view of this that police administration rolled out the Transformational programmes that intend to make the Ghana police service the best in Africa and one of the top 10 organizations in the world.

“The Transformational agenda is for all of us, we should know that everyone, police officers and citizens need to feel a sense of ownership and achievement, we must be driven by our vision and mission statement to enhance the quality delivery service, investigation problems as well as incidents seeking solutions and fostering a sense of security in our communities and among individuals”.

He urged them to take the workshop seriously and endeavour to educate and share their experiences with their colleagues, subordinates, opinion leaders and business communities.

DCOP Duku commended Hans Seidel Foundation for sponsoring the workshop and pledged that the funds invested in the workshop would yield remarkable results.

Dr Klaus Gruetjen, Representative-West Africa, Hans Seidel Foundation commended the police for availing themselves for the training and that his outfit would continue to sponsor the programme to ensure that Ghanaian police were well trained to meet the needs of the citizenry.

He said Ghanaian police had performed creditably and professionally in their duties and encouraged them to let their professionalism be felt in the sub-region and in the international circles.

Dr Gruetjen hinted that the Foundation would extend the training workshops to other West African countries such as; Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo and Benin, adding that they would soon move to chad to also support the Chadian police.

He said the foundation was not only supporting the training programme, but was also into the creation of platforms, lobbying and networking and urged the Ghanaian police to endeavour to maintain their standards in the international arena.

ACP Dr Benjamin Kwasi Agordza, Director of the Transformation Agenda Officer said to meet the international standards of policing, it was important for the Ghanaian police to make some changes in their way of doing things, which he noted should start with attitudinal change, hence the Transformational Agenda.

He said the change of attitude by the officers would bring sanity into the police service and urged them to take the training seriously.

Present at the workshop was ACP David Eklu, Director- General in charge of Public Affairs and Aridja Frank, Regional Coordinator of Hans Seidel Foundation.

Source: GNA