Fighting crime must be a collective responsibility - IGP rallies citizens

The Inspector-General of Police(IGP), James Oppong-Boanuh has stated that in order for the service to provide adequate policing, there is the need for the citizenry to partner personnel.

He stressed that fighting crime in the country remains a collective responsibility between the police service and the citizenry, reiterating the need for spirited Ghanaians to provide information to officers in order to nib criminal activities in the bud.

Speaking during a day’s working visit to the Western North Region as part of assessment of the preparedness of men and women of the service towards the 2020 polls, the police chief encouraged a good relationship between the citizenry and police.

This in his estimation, is the best way crime can be fought adding that useful leads provided by the residents to the police is in their own interest as it goes a long way to weed out the bad guys from society.

“Crime fighting is a collective effort so let us team up in the fight by pooling resources in this regard. Let’s not sit down in despair and cede the any part of the region to criminals. We will relook at hotspots in the region and beef up security if need be”, he stated during a courtesy call on the Regional Minister

He expressed appreciation for the support offered to men and women of the service in the Western North region which is one of the 6 new regions in the country, promising to deal with shortfalls in the conduct of personnel if any.

On his part, the Regional Minister Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu mentioned illegal mining, felling of trees and highway robbery as some prominent criminal activities persisting in the area.

To this end, he appealed for adequate staffing as well as the provision of logistics including crowd fighting equipment to help improve the security in the area.