Police need constant training-IGP

Accra, Aug 12, GNA- Mr Patrick Kwateng Acheampong, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on Friday reiterated the need for constant training for personnel of the Ghana Police Service to meet the changing dynamics of modern policing.

He bemoaned the lack of training facilities and praised the assistance of international organisations, notably the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) of the United States of America that had helped build the capacity of the Service in recent years.

Mr Acheampong made that remark at the closing ceremony of a five-day intelligence development and analysis course for 51 officers of the Ghana Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), at the Police Headquarters in Accra.

The IGP said it was difficult to organise courses for personnel of the Service because of the lack of facilities in the form of specialised universities or advanced institutions coupled with the prohibitive cost of consultants who would run such courses.

He welcomed assistance towards the development of the competence of personnel of the Service, and praised the US Government for its assistance through the FBI.

Mr David Asante Apeatu, Director of the CID reminded intelligence officers to be steps ahead of criminals to nip their nefarious activities in the bud.

He said: "Combating crime in modern times must be intelligence led. It should find expression in proactive rather that reactive policing." Mr Apeatu said it was necessary to tactically plan and strategise to combat crime and handle informants properly so as to gain useful information from them.

He urged the police officers to reciprocate the kind gesture of the US Government by putting the knowledge acquired at the course into practice and work hard as a team with the FBI and sister security organisations to provide the much needed security for Ghana and the world at large. "By doing so we would be ridding the world of miscreants who are out to cause maximum pain, injury and suffering to law abiding people the world over as witnessed in modern time," Mr Apeatu said.

Mr Robert Pellet, Acting Legal Attach=E9 of the FBI Bureau in Lagos expressed his appreciation to the Service for the opportunity to share their expertise.

He underlined teamwork and cooperation between the two bodies to combat terrorism and cyber-crime.

The Course Prefect, Mr Samuel Tibil Punobyin, expressed the appreciation of the participants for the wealth of knowledge and practical skills and pledged to pool resources and share information to successfully combat crime.

The course treated key facets of intelligence with regards to the collection, processing, analysing and storing information and how to share them with relevant bodies.

Certificates were presented to the participants, who in turn presented gifts to their instructors as a sign of their appreciation.