IGP EXPRESSES CONCERN ABOUT DISCIPLINE (PAGE 20)

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Quaye, has expressed concern about the enforcement and maintenance of discipline among the rank and file of the service.
Mr Quaye said reports reaching his office indicate cases of reckless handling of weapons and the indiscriminate resort to the use of firearms, especially, by subordinate officers tending to suggest that some officers in command positions have woefully neglected their supervisory responsibilities.
Addressing officers and men in Cape Coast last Friday during a day’s visit to the Central Region, Mr Quaye described the state of affairs as unacceptable, and that any act of indiscipline reported to the administration would be swiftly met with appropriate sanctions in the context of the relevant disciplinary code.
He tasked the police commanders to ensure that their policing methods and techniques were human rights-friendly.
Mr. Quaye said the country’s constitutional democracy makes it imperative that they should not engage in activities that were incompatible with the principles of the rule of law and the tenets of democratic policing.
He, therefore, warned that the police administration would not countenance any unprofessional practices on the part of police officers which undermine the respect for human rights protection and which tend to distance the police from the public they serve.
The IGP said it was also unacceptable for any policeman or police woman to abuse the powers that the law conferred on him or her to facilitate the performance of legitimate official duties at the expense of individual citizens.
He said such untoward behaviours could only create mistrust and suspicion between the citizen and the police.
He further reminded them of the need for cooperation between the police and the public for effective policing and that the police should act as public relations officers and ambassadors of image repair.
He asked the police to be vigilant at all times even though the Central Region has a low crime rate and asked them not to dabble in land and chieftaincy disputes which is a challenge to region.
The IGP urged the police to intensify their patrols to curb crimes such as armed robberies and accidents on the highways, and condemned taking the law into their own hands by lynching of suspects and vandalising police stations.
Mr Quaye said the doors of the police were open to the public and that we should see ourselves as partners in the crusade and quest to create a society devoid of unnecessary violence, disorder and lawlessness, adding that everyone was a stakeholder and beneficiary in a society where law and order reigned supreme”.
The Central Regional Commander , Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr Patrick Kampara commended the people and the chiefs for their warm attitude towards the police in their duties, but cautioned against instant justice which was becoming common in the region these days.