Dec. polls: Over 52K police officers will be ruthless with troublemakers – IGP

The Police administration has warned that it will not tolerate any breach of peace enjoyed in the country before, during, and after the December 7 general elections.

A total of 52,794 fully armed police officers are to be deployed to maintain law and order across the country during the elections.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday on the readiness of the Election Security Taskforce, the IGP, James Oppong Boanuh stated that the police officers will be deployed in their official police uniforms but will have distinctive armbands to avoid people impersonating.

He further stated that CID officers and operatives of the Bureau of National Investigations(BNI) who will be deployed will, however, remain ‘invisible’ as they will not be marked out.

Standby guards, the IGP noted, will also be deployed with support from the Ghana Army.

Though the focus is the hotspot there will not be a single polling station without at least one armed police officer.

“We are approaching all polling stations as potential hotspots. However, we have identified 6,178 flashpoints nationwide. The flashpoints were decided based on a number of factors such as incidents recorded in previous elections, this year’s voters registration exercise and crime rate, and other factors relating to those things. As a result, our approach in these areas will be slightly different from other areas. Persistent patrols and standby forces will be visible to prevent any mishap. Strategies for handling them will be reviewed based on emerging trends or issues,” the IGP stated.

He noted that no motorbikes will be allowed less than 100 metres to a polling station to prevent unscrupulous persons from snatching ballot boxes as has happened in previous elections.