Executive director for the Institute of Liberty and Policy Innovation(ILPL), Peter Bismark has asserted that Ghanaians have gradually lost their respect for the police.
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He made this statement in relation to how military officers have suddenly taken the place of the police in civilian matters.
He told Samuel Eshun on e.TV Ghana’s Factsheet, “To some extent it looks like now most Ghanaians do not respect the police. Looking at some of the activities they have engaged themselves in over the years, like the collection of monies on the road. It also looks like some do not have the tolerance when it comes to engaging drivers and civilians”.
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He stated that, their laid back response to armed robberies and other petty crimes in the community has also made individuals lose confidence in the police service.
“Unlike the military we’ve always been told that the military is very disciplined and they take no nonsense and over the years we’ve experienced some of this especially looking at how people were molested between the 90’s and before democracy, the brutality of the military scares people away and they become lawful when they see the military than when they see the police” he stated.
He went on to say that although there are several other units within the police service the kind of training the military has can still not be compared to that of the police when they come to civilian zones because, “the military are known to be able to convert civilian zones into war zones which makes people cautious when dealing with them”.
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Citing an example he said, “Their weapons alone cannot be compared to that of the police because there is a vast difference”.
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Peter expressed that, although training is key, their training alone will not be enough to do their work, “their attitude, tolerance and engagement with the people and how they address crime within the country is what makes people not trust the police service”.
By: Gyamfuah Owusu-Ackom
