Reshuffle in Police to hierarchy does not help – Dr. Aning

The reshuffle within the Police top hierarchy, following the recent spate in armed robbery attacks and other crimes, does not help in combating crime in the country, Dr Emmanuel Kwesi Aning, a security expert, has said.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, Dr Aning said: "If you reshuffle, but the institution does not have the tools and equipment to deliver it’s a non-starter.

“Leadership helps, but leadership in a vacuum, does not help. Let us get the Police Service the tools and equipment. No political interference. And they will get the job done. Just changing musical chairs does not help".

Dr Aning, who is also the Director of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), said the recent surge in crime in the country was not surprising to him.

“And there are several reasons for that: we have not invested in our law enforcement agencies, we have not invested in our prosecutorial services; meaning that crime pays and those who commit crime have an 80 per cent chance of going scot-free.

“But not only that, you see, the nature of societal changes, explosive demographic growth plus expanding unplanned urban areas pose particular challenges for law enforcement.

“We need to equip the Police, we need to design the doctrine for policing, and we need to allow them to use their professional skills to help us. I think if we start this, getting the institutional structural infrastructures right, then we will be able to respond to the challenges that we are facing,” he said.

“But there are good men and women within the Ghana Police Service, and we should give them the chance to perform their duty”.

On claims that unemployment may be a contributory factor in the recent surge in armed robbery attacks, Dr Aning said: "There is no crime survey to prove that or to make a positive correlation between unemployment and crime, and so we need to be couscous about those correlation. That I think is very important.”

The Ghana Police Service, as part efforts to combat the recent spate of crime in the country made changes in 11 Command positions to ensure effective management and operational control of the Service.