Senior Police officers should lead by example- Kufuor

Accra, Jan. 9, GNA- President John Agyekum Kufuor on Friday asked Senior police officers to lead lives worthy of emulation and instil in their subordinates positive police habits.

He said the Police Service should also eschew the unjustified or indiscriminate use of force or selective enforcement of rules by some of their personnel.

President Kufuor was speaking at the graduation ceremony and passing-out parade for Senior Police Officers Cadet Course 36 at which he conferred on them a Presidential Commission to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) at the Police College, Tesano near Accra. The 97 senior police officers, including ten women who entered the college from the Inspectorate rank, had undergone six months of training.

He said some of the negative images, erode public trust and tarnish the reputation of the otherwise important and indispensable profession.

President Kufuor also noted that there was also the pervasive perception among the public that corruption was an endemic police character.

"Unfortunately, while the majority of the men and women of the service perform their duties with circumspection, zeal, devotion and diligence, there are some bad nuts who engage in acts that generally undermine your reputation."

He therefore, called on the public to endeavour to relieve the police of the undue pressures, which they tend to impose on them, adding that temptations of all sorts to compromise them in their duties must be eschewed.

President Kufuor noted that for the past three years, the Police have responded positively to reforms by the government and to a large measure, restored peace in the country, and are beginning to enjoy public confidence.

He said to sustain this gain, the Service would require additional crop of competent and professional policemen and women, who would reflect all positive attributes of the nation's psyche and respond continually to the legitimate concerns of the citizenry.

President Kufuor said the Police College, which has assumed special importance to the nation, should be the nursery for teaching best police practices, upholding and inculcating the basic tenets of good governance into the cadets.

To this end, he said, the College is currently in consultation with experts from other police forces elsewhere, is overhauling its recruiting and cadet training system.

He said the college's monitoring and internal affairs programmes are being upgraded, while the forensic science department is being modernized to meet the complex challenges of the times.

President Kufuor noted that domestic violence, child exploitation, ingenious fraud and other violent crimes within national borders, terrorism, human trafficking, money laundering, drugs and their elated crimes that tend to involve trans-national organisations were some of the challenges the Service must contend with.

He said that modern-day policing should be groomed with both domestic and international perspectives to enable the service to match and outsmart the increasingly resourceful smart criminals, who were exploiting the information technology age to confound the police. President Kufuor exhorted the officers to let their diligence and determination continue to lead them to greater heights in their career and to let their smartness permeate their practical performances as police personnel, wherever they find themselves.

The officers took courses in Criminal Law, Criminal Procedures, Law of Evidence, Criminal Investigations, Practical Police Duties, Criminology, Sociology, Psychology, Acts and Decrees and Financial Administration among others.

A number of them were awarded for their excellence. ASP Solomon Aboninga Ayawine was awarded the Sword of Honour for being the best all-round student. He was given an award for the best student in law subjects.

The awards for excellence in professional police subjects went to ASP Alex Kumangtani, while ASP Frank Abrokwa received the award for Excellence in Humanities.

ASP Ayamga Yakubu Akolgo received the award for excellence in drills and ASP Sarah Ocran took the Commandant's Special Award for leadership qualities.