Policing Through Service With Integrity

August 9, 2006

By Florence Gbolu

THE SITUATION in which some members of the Ghana Police Service have been involved in avoidable civilian brutalities, torture, unprofessional weapon handling and other forms of professional misconduct, leading to gross
human rights violations and in some cases, questioning the image of the
police, is both worrying and debilitating.
In an interview with Mr. Prize F. Y. McApreko, Director of Amnesty
International, Ghana, he expressed concerned that, lack of respect for the Police has the capacity to threaten the rule of law.
He said it poisons the stream of trust and confidence that society reposes in the Police.
Mr. McApreko stated that the alienation felt by the community, general
public, and civil society organisations could starve the Police of the
much needed cooperation and information necessary to develop accurate
criminal intelligence and deny them the civil cooperation needed to
prevent, detect and combat crime effectively and swiftly.
He said if the status quo becomes characterised by impunity, thereby
ignoring Police abuses, then there is the likelihood that unpopular
traditional systems of justice in which people take the law into their own hands could emerge.
In his view, the Police should be seen to be representing public
authority, and should be seen as the main contact between the citizens and the state.
"Interestingly, the Police Service tends to be one unique institution that wields the prerogative of monopoly in the use of legitimate force, minimal force or call it reasonable force."
This delicate authority vested in the Police Officer, he said, makes the Officer carry out a prescribed duty within a framework of intrinsic
tension between the need to protect and maintain public order, which is
also critical and central to protecting human rights, and then on the
other hand, the obligation to show absolute respect for human rights in
the execution of his legitimate functions.

Mr. McApreko noted that whereas the Officer is on one hand an accredited agent of protecting the citizen's rights, safety and peace, again the Officer on the other hand, though in the same context, is necessarily exposed to the danger of violating human rights, yet it is
uncompromisingly important that the police positions him/herself in such an informed and responsible position that he/she offers service with integrity.
From this viewpoint, Mr. McApreko considers that a badly trained Police
Officer, poorly organised and ill-equipped, could constitute a potential threat to society.
However, he stressed that where the Police Officers have been re-trained,reformed, and have established a reputation for respecting the human rights of the very people they are policing, then would it build the public confidence and civic cooperation necessary to prevent and detect crime timely, especially now that crime is assuming sophisticated and dangerous dimensions each passing day.
He therefore urged the Police Service to purge itself of the characteristic militaristic aura in which the public sees it.
"With equal concern, I wish to advocate radical changes in the training
and conduct of our Police Officers such that human rights education
becomes an intrinsic part of their graduation. Other training must be
linked to the changes in the environment in which the Police operate."
To substantiate his concerns, Mr. McApreko recalled at least the
following: the tragic tale of how occupants of a Daewoo Tico taxi cab, who were suspected by the Police to be armed robbers, were shot dead in cold blood by some members of the Dansoman Police station, is an unfortunate example of an exercise in which unprofessional weapon handling was dramatised to the detriment of the Police Service.
"Some called it a massacre while others said it was a blood bath," he
said. "What was a common denominator was, in my opinion, that it was one of the goriest days in the history of policing in Ghana."
"On this dark dawn of 21st April 2006, the silence of the dawn was
shattered, not by a coup d'etat, but by a policing drama in which caution had been thrown to the wind, responsibility left for the dogs,
circumspection painfully betrayed and integrity disintegrated!
In one reckless moment, four people had lost their lives - lives, which
can never be replaced, nor compensated for by any amount of money, regret, apologies, or reparation.
This saga compelled the Director of Amnesty International Ghana to hold
the view that under no circumstances should the Police over-simplify
issues in order to justify such heinous human rights abuses because life is too precious and too irreversible to be lost in such a fashion
characteristic of movies.
Ghanaians would once again remember another bizarre incident which
detracted heavily from the integrity and otherwise good name of the Ghana Police, lack of caution had been exemplified in the case of a mistaken identity which led to the shooting of a 26 year old fashion designer who was said to have gone out of his home with a dog to assist in arresting robbers.
When a Police Officer is not shooting for self-defence, when his or her
life is in danger, Mr. McApreko thinks that shooting to immobilise a
suspect is the preferred option.
Let not forget the story in Winneba, where a 25-year-old carpenter was
gunned down in May 2006 at the hands of the Police on suspicion of being an armed robber.

The Police claimed that he died as a result of gunshot wounds on his leg, but when his body was examined at the mortuary, it was discovered that there was a wound on his head.
Interestingly, the family had it that when they insisted that a
post-mortem be conducted, to find out how many gun shot wounds the
deceased had sustained, the Police were demanding five hundred thousand
Cedis (¢500,000.00) as the cost of the post-mortem, which would be
conducted by their doctor in Winneba.
Mr. McApreko again recalled another situation in May 2006, this time in
Juapong, where some members of the Police Service were said to have
"scored another human rights abuse" by detaining a suspect for three days refusing him bail, contrary to what the constitution prescribes.
He said it does not surprise him, when a group of Police Officers drawn
from various stations in Ghana at the end of a basic police skills
training in Accra, described the prevailing methods of police training as inadequate and so cannot effectively combat sophisticated crime.
The current cocaine saga, in which several Senior Police Officers have
been implicated, is yet another blow to the already embattled image of the Ghana Police Service, says Mr. McApreko.
"We must however, not allow it to blight us from the innumerable human
rights violations perpetrated by the Police."
In furtherance of all these, he said the Police Authorities must not only make it publicly and abundantly clear but in swift and exemplary practice,as well, that Police misconduct is both unjustifiable and unacceptable.
He however urged that the Police ought to lift up its game so as to
substantiate the trust and confidence of the people.
Since without the Police, society is not safe.
However, the needed safety is contained in an upright and humanrights-friendly policing.