Policing started in 1821
by the British Colonialists. The Ghana Police Service is tasked to
perform the following functions in Ghana.
1. Crime
detection and prevention
2. .Apprehension (arrest) and prosecution of offenders
3. Maintenance of law and order
4. Due enforcement of the law.
The Ghana police service is currently doing a great job in
the country. The police must be commended for their effort in curbing crime and
ensuring that the country remains peaceful during and after the 2012 elections.
I like to specify that, there are good police men and there are bad ones. The
bad ones are currently destroying the image of the police which has been built
by hard working police personnel.
An
incident caught my attention at 5: 55 am this morning, when a well dressed
police man parked in front of a car I had boarded to work. The driver
stopped to pick up passengers at the metro mass transit station here in Accra.
The well dressed policeman asked the driver to alight from the vehicle. He obeyed
the officer and came out of the car to talk to the policeman.
Stay with
me dear reader, the policeman asked the driver to follow him. Now in an attempt
to escape from the law, the driver collected money from his conductor normally referred
to as “driver’s mate”.
According
to some information I gathered from the next car I boarded, this has been a
routine of the policeman who constantly collects bribe from the drivers before
day break. The mate told me that, “we don’t have anybody to talk for us, but if
we do then this nonsense will stop”. Everybody in the car complained bitterly
about the performance of this police man whose motor number I clearly caught in
time. Who will speak for our drivers? The police indeed are our friends, but actions
from some police officers are causing the police as a unit to lose its
friendship with the public. I therefore call on the Ghana police service to
address this problem to protect its image.
