Community patrols reduce incidence of crime in Ashaiman

The Community Safety Patrols (CSPs) embarked upon by the Ashaiman Divisional Police Command has helped to reduce to the barest minimum the incidence of crime within the municipality.

Chief Superintendent David Eklu, Ashaiman Divisional Police Commander who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency said 22 cases were recorded in the municipality from January to September 2012, but because of the CSPs no robbery incident had occurred within the municipality after September up-to-date.

He explained that through the CSPs, young police officers are deployed onto the streets to interact with the public and to register their presence so as to ward-off the nefarious activities of criminals.

He said effective policing could not take place without the fullest cooperation of the public because they were partners in development.

Chief Supt. Eklu lauded residents for their preparedness to report the activities of criminals and to follow it up with voluntary information leading to their arrest.

He urged the residents to continue to foster closer relationship with the police in their bid to combat crime to ensure peace and tranquility within the municipality.

Giving crime statistics in respect of the divisional command which comprises Ashaiman, Ada and Dodowa; Chief Supt. Eklu said assaults had been a common crime, adding that the division dealt with a total of 3,170 assault cases in 2011 but the number reduced to 2,164 last year.

He said stealing cases also dropped from 2,112 in 2011 to 1,203 in 2012.