Increase police numbers to boost confidence – Amaliba

Abraham Amaliba, a private legal practitioner, has observed that the number of police officers in Ghana is limited as per the requirements of the United Nations, hence the number should be increased.

According to him, the increase in the number will ensure that those assigned to fight crime in the society focus mainly on that, allowing them to work effectively.

When that is done, he believes it will boost public confidence in the police and curb mob actions in the country.

Speaking on TV3’s New Day on Saturday June 3 in connection with Monday’s lynching of Captain Maxwell Mahama by an angry mob at Denkyira Obuasi in the Central Region on suspicion that he was an armed robber, he said: “We have one policeman to a thousand people. The numbers are not great and so it is difficult for them to even conduct investigations.

“Coupled with this is you have some policemen who have been taken away from their core business of investigations and sent to court to be prosecuting. There has been a call to recall all those policemen who are doing the prosecution back to the stations for them to focus on their core business and then recruit lawyers at the Attorney General’s Department to do the work.

“When you go to the AG's Department, there are a number of applications from lawyers who want to join the service, but government is saying ‘no money’. So part of the reform is to let the police focus on their core business – which is the criminal justice department – and when they are able to do that I am of the view that we will have some semblance of a change in the way criminal issues are being dealt with.”