Uphold public trust and respect human rights in 2024 polls – COP Abiba to Police personnel

COP Abiba Yaa Twumasi-Sarpong, Director General of Police Welfare at the Ghana Police Service, has admonished police personnel to uphold public trust and respect citizens’ human rights, especially with Ghana gearing up for presidential and parliamentary elections on December 7, 2024.

Addressing the passing-out parade for the first batch of one hundred and eighty-seven (187) graduates and general recruits from the Koforidua Police Training School, she urged the recruits to enforce security laws governing the elections fairly and with utmost respect for human rights.

“Again as graduands you are passing out at a time Ghana will be organizing general elections at the end of the year, hence the need to caution you that in order to live up to the public trust and expectations, you must enforce security laws governing the elections fairly and with utmost respect for citizens human rights,” COP Twumasi-Sarpong said.

Assuring the public, Twumasi-Sarpong stated that the police service, in collaboration with sister security services, is implementing comprehensive measures to ensure a secure environment for the elections to take place without any security breaches.

She stated that the establishment of an election security secretariat for the first time by the police service led by the Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, dedicated to overseeing all election-related security matters, is contributing to the effective planning and execution of security measures during elections across the country.

Turning her attention to the recruits on parade, COP Twumasi-Sarpong outlined the vision of the Ghana Police Service under the leadership of the Inspector General of Police, aiming to position the service as the premier institution in Ghana and a reference point in Africa and beyond.

She said the reforms made in training have started showing positive outcomes among new recruits.

According to COP Abiba Twumasi-Sarpong, previously, the emphasis was mainly on the enhancement of recruits’ knowledge of the laws they were expected to enforce when they passed out.

But now, equal emphasis is placed on field training activities such as riding, driving, swimming, crowd control, incident and disaster management, crime scene management, traffic management, radio communication, intelligence gathering and community based patrols.

Other areas include charge office management, access control, arrest and search procedures, use of force procedures, human rights, client care and professional police ethics, tactical progression, weapon handling and high risk operation.

She therefore urged the recruits that “having gone through the same training module, the Ghana Police Service expects them to exhibit high level standards that complement the achievements so far chalked towards the maintenance of law, order and security in the country in line with our motto, service with integrity.”.

COP Twumasi-Sarpong reminded the recruits that their actions and inactions would be scrutinized by the public they are sworn to serve, therefore they must work diligently.