Ho, June 24, GNA - Family feuds have become the main triggers for homicides in the Volta Region especially in the Keta Division of the Police Service.
Records from the Keta and Sogakope divisions of the Police Service have also indicated increases in defilement cases in those areas. Volta Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police David Nenyi Ampah-Bennin, said in a speech read on his behalf at a Community Policing outreach in Ho that between October 2009 and April 2010, 73 defilement cases were reported in the Region with 38 from the Keta and Sogakope divisions.
Giving the region's crime profile, Mr Ampah-Bennin said suicide was also gaining ground in the Sogakope area. "Boys as young as 20 years take delight in killing themselves by hanging or jumping into wells. Nine such cases were reported between January and May 2010," he said.
Mr Ampah-Bennin said community support and action were necessary to curtail the phenomena. He said robbery, narcotics and cocoa smuggling were generally under some control in the Region but could still be minimized with the support of the communities. Mr Ampah-Bennin commended the level of cooperation and collaboration the police were receiving from the public and was optimistic that this could improve.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Florence Arthur who is in charge of Community Policing urged the public to volunteer "quality information" to the Police for mutual benefit. She expressed the hope that community policing would make the Police more friendly, trust worthy and effective and called for support from all. Some participants at the programme urged the Police to provide cover for informants to encourage people to volunteer information.
