The president, Nana Akufo-Addo has promised to give 20,000 body cameras to Ghana police service to make their work more effective as he urged them to strive to maintain professional discipline in duty.
Speaking on behalf of President Akufo-Addo, the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery said the donation was timely since the new strategic direction of the PPSB could not have been realized in the facility which was previously used by the unit.
Speaking at the inauguration and handing over of police professional standards bureau (PPSB) headquarters at the Nima police divisional Headquaters, on the behalf of the President,the Minister of Interior, Ambrose Derry noted that, today is a very historic day for the Ghana Police Service in particular and the country in general.
This is due to the fact that he is commissioning multiple projects for the Ghana Police on the same day. Specifically, the projects are an ultra-modern building for the Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB), a one-stop centre for the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), a new Out Patient Department (OPD) and a state-of-the-art Virtual Medical Centre as well as a One Million Dollar Police Emergency Medical Intervention Fund. This means that after the commissioning of this PPSB building, we will move on to commission the other projects. I know it is going to be a tall task but I believe it is worth the effort.
He noted that, the public had numerous complaints about the Police and some questioned, “who policed the Police?” In order to answer the question and address the concerns of Ghanaians, the then Inspection Unit was established to monitor and ensure that personnel were professional and ethical in the discharge of their duties. The unit later became known as the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards (PIPS) and now the Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB).
“The unit begun its operations from a small office at the Police Headquarters and later moved to a facility in Asylum down and now we are witnessing the commissioning of this ultra-modern building” he said.
For the Service to become a world class institution to attain its vision, its personnel must deliver their services in a professional and ethical manner.
“For this to be achieved, there is the need to deploy an internal mechanism to ensure that personnel live up to the expectations of Ghanaians in respect of professionalism and ethical conduct. The PPSB is therefore charged with the role of keeping personnel in check” he added.
In view of the critical role played by PPSB towards the achievement of the vision of the Ghana Police Service to become a world class police institution, the Interior Minister said, it is unfortunate that the unit has over the years operated on a limited scope towards achieving their mandate.
The bureau has been reactive rather than proactive in its operations. The bureau has in the past, relied solely on receiving complaints from the public, investigating same and advising the Police administration for further action. In relation to their geographical coverage, the bureau has mainly operated in Accra and recently expanded to the Volta, Ashanti and Western Regions denying the other regions the opportunity to hold the police accountable and limiting their ability to bring complaints against defaulting personnel.
President Akufo-Addo urged officers and men of the Ghana Police Service to remain professional in the discharge of their duties, adding that Government will continue to resource the Police Service in order to effectively discharge its law enforcement mandate.
New Interventions
On the New Strategic Direction of PPSB, he said, “I am reliably informed that the current police administration under the leadership of the IGP, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, has redefined and initiated strategies to make the PPSB more proactive in ensuring professional standards within the service, prevent instances of unprofessionalism as far as possible and reduce instances of personnel misconduct which can trigger a reactive response”.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the Police Administration has redefined and initiated strategies to make the PPSB more proactive in ensuring professional standards within the service, prevent instances of unprofessionalism as far as possible and reduce instances of personnel misconduct which can trigger a reactive response.
The strategies he listed included a decentralization programme leading to the establishment of Regional PPSBs across all 18 police regions to bring the bureau to the doorstep of all and the setting up of a Complaint Reporting Hotline for members of the public who feel aggrieved during any engagement with the police to call and seek redress in real time.
It also includes the establishment of a Police Body-worn Cameras Monitoring Centre to provide 24-hour monitoring of personnel who will be required to wear the cameras during their duty tour and as well the activation of a WhatsApp number for members of the public to send video footages of police conduct, both good and bad for investigation and commendation as the case may be.
“I would like to place on record that my Government and I are very delighted about these initiatives and look forward to their yielding good results for the good of the Service and the country,” President Akufo-Addo added.
The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo -Addo has commended the Executive Chairman of the Tobinco Group of Companies, Elder Nana Amo Tobbin I for handing over a fully furnished ultra-modern two- storey building worth GHC3,982,700 to the Ghana Police Service.
The Inspector General of Police IGP Dr. George Akufo Dampare has appealed to any individual who is willing to support and resource the police to professionally executive their core mandate to come on board.
According to the IGP, it is the desire of the Ghana police to become one of the best in the world and the best public institution in the country when comes to performance, maintaining peace and security.
IGP Dr. Dampare mentioned that, the most important commodity needed in the socio cultural development of the country is security and the only institutions responsible for maintaining peace and security of everyone is the police, therefore there’s the need for cooperate bodies to support the police aside from the government.
The Executive Chairman of the Tobinco Group of Companies, Elder Nana Amo Tobbin I, speaking at the handing over ceremony noted, that the core mandate of the PPSB was to ensure that Officers maintain professional standards at all times, therefore the need to provide the best form of support including logistics to the Ghana Police Service.
“Having a professional Police Service is key to maintaining law and order in the country because a professional Police officer relates better to the citizenry, making policing quite easy. Again, the emerging threats of terrorism and instability within some of our neighbouring countries require that we equip and resource our security agencies to preserve our territorial integrity.
“These threats have the potential of negatively affecting our local economy and I believe that every businessman will have to contribute his quota to protect the nation, civilians, and businesses. This is why we are investing in the Security of this country,” he said.
Nana Amo Tobbin I expressed hope that edifice will help instill a sense of professionalism in officers to help the Ghana Police Service pursue its vision of maintaining law and order in the country.
He assured the Ghana Police Service and all security agencies of his unflinching support, encouraging them to call on the Group for any kind of support when the need arises.
Nana Amo Tobbin I also commended the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare for a good job done so far, re-affirming his continuous support to him to make his work a success and to keep the country safe.