The Research Planning and Transformation Directorate of the Ghana Police Service engaged 50 community leaders and 25 police officers in the Dormaa Ahenkro Municipality in the Bono region on Radicalisation, Violent Extremism, and Positive Peace.
The programme was sponsored by the Hanns Seidel Foundation which has over the past years supported the Ghana Police to educate some of the officers in the Service on Community Policing and Police Professionalism.
The Programme was meant to evaluate and train some of the already trained officers on professionalism and to boost their commitment to engaging the public on security concerns within the communities especially on violent extremist activities.
The Director-General Research, Planning and Transformation Commissioner of Police (COP) Dr. Ernest Kwabena Owusu in his welcome address promised the participants fruitful engagement and requested the public’s continuous cooperation with the Police to proactively fight all forms of crime. He communicated the commitment of the Police administration in engaging the communities to prevent the occurrence of crime instead of waiting for the occurrence of crimes to be reported.
The Divisional Police Commander Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr. Anthony Appiah said statistics available show that general crime had reduced drastically even though the area continues to record few cases of various crimes.
He commended the Inspector-General of Police for the provision of motorbikes for patrol duties and said the initiative is yielding positive results. He also emphasized the need for stakeholder collaboration as a solution to challenges faced by the division in the quest to secure jurisdiction.
Nana Ansu Kwadwo – Adomankomahene commended the Police for the education and armed with insight given during the engagement on Radicalisation and Violent Extremism he cautioned against the attitude of some parents who resort to beating their children whenever they err as this does not encourage children to cultivate the habit of telling the truth due to fear of victimisation.
He also called on all landlords to endeavour to do some background checks on their tenants as some of them could be engaged in nefarious activities.
