Veep opens Ghana police command and staff college

The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana and the Chairman of the Ghana Police Council, Mr. Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah Arthur has inaugurated The Ghana Police Command and Staff College (GPCSC).

The inauguration took place at the premises of the Ghana Police Command and Staff College Winneba.

He said Nigeria happens to be the only country in the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) that has an advance police College and this calls for a second advance College in Ghana.

He said, for the past decades, there has been an upsurge in national and transnational organized criminal activities which invariably could be linked to the systematic proliferation of small arms and light weapons, drugs and many lapses in the various sectors of the country are all reasons for the establishment of the Ghana Police Command.

Mr. Amissah Arthur said the Ghana Police Command and Staff College is a Higher Educational institute of the Ghana Police Service with courses designed to provide Quality and Professional and Practical Training and Skills Development for Senior Police Officers with the view to enhancing their Command Staff, Operational and Managerial Capacities.

He said the college aims at creating the required platform to improve community security by building greater Police capacity to provide and deliver an effective Law Enforcement Service.

Mr. Amissah Arthur said the Ghana Police Command and Staff College is structured to run three main courses which are; a Junior Command Course (JCC), an Intermediate Command Course (ICC) and a Senior Command Course (SCC).

He said the Junior Command Course (JCC) is required to undergo an operational training, the Intermediate Command Course (ICC) will undergo Tactical training and the Senior Command Course (SCC) would undergo a strategic operation.

He said the college would have a strong relationship with peacekeeping or Peace Support Operations such as the United Nations Police (UNPOL) and will be captured on ongoing basis to help refine the training content to meet International Policing Standards.

The College will also serve as the Centre for Policy discussion on emerging issues on crime and trends in policing and other security sectors which will be fed into training content.

Mr. Amissah Arthur commended the Police administration for having a strong and focused policy to have at least 30% of students as female officers. That is matching Ghana’s commitment to the implementation of Resolution 1325, the UNDP – Eight Point Agenda and other UN Resolutions on Gender.

He said trainees for the Junior Command Course (JCC) would be drawn from the ranks of the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and their course duration would be 4 to 6 Weeks.

The trainees for the Intermediate Command Course (ICC) would be drawn from the ranks of Superintendent and chief Superintendent – this covers middle and Level Command Duties, and their course duration would be from 5 to 6 Weeks.

Finally, the trainees for the Senior Command Course (SCC) would be drawn from Commanders, Assistant Commissioners and above and this covers High Command Duties, and their course duration would be 4 to 6 Weeks.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan in addressing the Gathering expressed his appreciation to the Vice President of Ghana and the Chairman of the Ghana Police Council Mr. Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah Arthur for accepting to commission the Ghana Police Command and Staff College.

He also thanked the Vice President and the Interior Minister, Hon. Kwesi Ahwoi for their immense contribution as well as all the major stake holders of the Ghana Police Service for making the dream of the Ghana Police Service dating 30 years back a reality.

The IGP sent a note of caution to the pioneer students of the College to lead an exemplary life and be good leaders. He stressed that be a leaders sometimes means making people uncomfortable and it means that some people would get angry at some of their decisions but they should be firm in order to avoid every form of mediocrity.

He warned them on procrastination especially when an issue borders on making difficult choices. He entreated them to treat everyone fairly as they are there to be problem solvers, both of people and their subordinates.

He said the day your subordinates stop to bring you their problems for solutions is the day you cease to be a commander. It means they have either lost confidence in you or they perceive you do not care anymore and either of this is a failure of leadership, he said.

He said commanders build so many barriers to upward communications which is ridiculous and it is a failure. He charged all commanders to make themselves accessible and available to their subordinates as they entreat them to work harder since they are expected to do so.

To the pioneer students, he advised them to be committed to higher standards because they are the chosen few who would determine the future of the college.

He congratulated the first acting commandant of The Ghana Police Command and Staff College (GPCSC), Chief Superintendent M.Y. Tiwaa Addo Danquah, and the pioneer students.

He expressed his appreciation to the partner institutions for their support to The Ghana Police Command and Staff College (GPCSC).