Policemen in Ashanti Region to be reshuffled

The Ashanti Regional Police Command is to reshuffle police personnel who have served in particular areas for more than four years.

The exercise, which is intended to sanitise police operations in the region, is part of the blueprint of the Ashanti Regional Police Command to overhaul the service, enhance competence and minimise crime in the region.

The Ashanti Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Kofi Boakye, disclosed this to journalists at his first meet-the-press at the Regional Police Headquarters in Kumasi yesterday.

He also outlined a number of measures, including cracking down on criminals and making the police more visible, to improve public confidence in the police.

Special Operation

He announced the arrest of 34 suspected criminals in a special operation by the police at Aboabo, Asafo, Suame Roundabout and Asawasi, all suburbs of Kumasi. Mr Boakye said the suspects included two teenage girls who were part of a gang of robbers plotting a robbery when they were arrested at the Affordable Housing project site at Asokore Mampong.

Items retrieved from the suspects included an AK-47 assault rifle, a pump action gun, machetes, cartridges, laptops, a pair of scissors and screw drivers.

The suspects are currently in police custody assisting in investigations. Personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), he said, would be tasked to engage more in public education, instead of spending long hours in arresting road traffic offenders, as part of the measures to sanitise police operations in the region.

Aggressive law enforcement

“Our operations shall be continuous and persistent, visiting all hideouts until we reduce crime to the barest minimum. All dangerous places where people cannot access either during the day or night will now be free from crime,” he said. He admitted that it would be impossible to eradicate crime from society, “but as long as I remain the regional commander, we will reduce it to the barest minimum”.

According to Mr Boakye, “the police will embark on continuous and aggressive law enforcement in the region to bring violence to its lowest ebb”.

He, therefore, called on the public to co-operate with the police and “give us the necessary information that will either lead us to the hideout of criminals or thwart their efforts”.

“We shall continue to serve the region with civility, respect, impartiality, firmness and fairness. We shall do so without malice, ill-will, vindictiveness or affection,” he stated.