Crime should not be politicised - ACP Boakye

Tamale, Jan. 23, GNA - The Director-General of Police Operations, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr Kofi Boakye has called on Ghanaians not to politicise or deal with crime based on ethnicity. He said politicising or dealing with crime based on ethnicity would not only make police operations difficult but also defeat the work and purpose of the establishment.

ACP Boakye made the call at a meeting with Journalists at Tamale on Sunday as part of a two-day official tour of police units in conflict areas of the Northern Region.

The tour to assist relevant authorities in the communities to maintain peace, include Salaga, Bimbilla and Yendi districts. ACP Boakye said Ghanaians required an efficient and effective policing to entrench democracy and appealed to politicians not to interfere with the work of the police.

He said: "Crime is crime and anyone who commits it must be made to face the law without regard to his or her political, social or economic status."

ACP Boakye called on chiefs, heads and elders of the communities to partner the police to promote and sustain peace in the region.

"We need to secure the support of the people taking into cognition their culture and tradition."

"We also need to work with all the factions in conflict to achieve peace," He said.

ACP Boakye therefore, urged the police to remain neutral, pointing out that policing must be done by consensus.

He reminded the people that no development could take place when they were engaged in conflicts and appealed to them to learn to forgive one another and live peacefully to fight poverty, ignorance and diseases.

ACP Boakye noted that in addition to being a drain on the country's resources, conflicts reduced the strength of the police to fight other crimes in society.

Chief Superintendent of Police George Boadu, Commander of the Armoured Car Squadron and Chief Superintendent Tennyson Aidoo, Director of Communications accompanied ACP Boakye on the tour.