IGP Asante-Apeatu ought to step down – Security analyst suggests

Emmanuel Kutin, a security analyst, believes so much has gone wrong within the police for the Inspector General of Police to have resigned from his position in a civilized democracy.

The executive director of African Centre for Security and Counter-Terrorism was decrying the failure of leadership in the country to take responsibility for mishaps which happen under them.

Speaking to Stephen Anti on TV3’s News@10 Saturday, Mr. Kutin said incidents of police personnel exhibiting unprofessionalism which in some cases have been fatal to innocent citizens have become one too many.

There have been reports of several atrocities committed by police personnel in a spate of one week. These include the killing of seven persons branded as armed robbers in the Ashanti region, the roundly condemned brutality against a middle-aged woman by an officer and the case of a policeman accidentally shooting and killing a bullion van driver.

“If it was a functional democracy, a beg to differ, the position of the IGP, as we talk today and now should have been untenable, because everything ends up with you; to the extent that even the regional commander is at post, it makes us not a serious country,” he analysed.

Focus on trainers

Mr. Kutin also suggested that it was time the training of police personnel was refined to reflect the needs of the 21st century.

“It is now about time we move away from the trainee, and focus on the trainers, because the trainee is the product of the trainer. We have to look at the training regime, which predates the colonial era,” the security analyst remarked.

He rallied the support of all to help the police service come out of what he called crisis, which is bedeviling the security agency.

“We have a problem on our hand…let’s admit the police are challenged, they are in crisis and we need to help them.”

In the face of the recent challenges, he warned against unnecessary provocation of the police because as humans, they may be forced to react nastily.