When was the last time you thanked a Police Officer?

As Ghanaians, I would want us to congratulate and thank the IGP, COP Asante-Apietu and the Ghana Police Service for the yeoman’s job of fighting the armed robbery menace and other crimes in the country, rather than denigrate them.

I believe things would have been worse, if the Ghana Police Service was not on high alert and the likelihood of 'One District 30 Robberies' in a month would have been the outcome.

The word Police is derived from the Greek word “Polis”, meaning that part of non-ecclesiastical administration having to do with the safety, health and order of the state. The Greek politeria, meant the art of governing and regulating the welfare, security needs and order of the city-state in the interest of the public.

Although Police is derived from the Greek, it was the Romans who perfected the system. The Roman politia meant the same thing as the Greek Politeira. It was a symbol of power residing in central Authority.

When was the last time you thanked a Police Officer?

Imagine feeling like every kiss of goodbye to your loved ones each day might be your last kiss. Police officers and their families feel this way every single day. Every morning when police officers put on their badge, they know there’s a chance they might not come home that night or the next morning.

However, although police officers risk their lives daily, being an officer is literally quite a thankless job. Not only are police officers often taken for granted, many people are highly vocal about their dislike for cops.

In fact, as I type this, I know already that it will receive many negative comments below on the police. And not just “some” police officers. People tend to use the phrase “all police officers” when they speak negatively about cops.

Why is this?

Why do some people simply love to say “all cops are bad”?

I believe that much of people’s anti-police attitude is due to a media bias to reporting the shocking and dramatic.

From what I’ve seen, the vast majority of police officers in Ghana are dedicated, hard-working and conscientious. The fact that a handful of officers have been in the news for misconduct should not taint the others. One bad apple does not mean they are all bad apples.

Without the huge presence of the police in terms of visibility and the willingness to fight for crime to be minimized, it would have been a catastrophe in Ghana.

We should be thankful to the Almighty God for his protection. I say so because but for the hard work of the Ghana Police Service's professional men and women in uniform, things would have been out of hands.

They are always two steps ahead. What we are seeing today is a micro.