The
police administration has introduced its operational strategy for the Christmas
and New Year festivities.
The
Inspector General of Police (IGP), James Oppong-Boanuh, said the administration
would intensify security at densely population areas such as shopping malls,
recreational and entertainment centres, beaches, churches and marketplaces
through the deployment of and increase deployment of personnel to such places
during the Yuletide. This way, he said, criminals cannot take advantage of the
period to perpetrate crimes.
“We
will also deploy uniform and plain-cloth officers on mobile and foot patrols
within the communities to prevent residential crimes and to conduct
intelligence – led operation S, step up snap checks, day and night patrols,
deploy motorbike patrols and increase highway patrols to tackle robberies,” he
said when he launched this year’s “Operation Father Christmas” at the Police Headquarters
in Accra.
Operation
Father Christmas has become an annual operational strategy of the Ghana Police
Service to ensure that the citizenry are safe before, during and after the
Christmas and New Year festivities.
This
year’s edition started with a route march by police personnel through some
principal streets of Accra, ending at the Police Headquarters where the IGP
delivered his address.
He
said the Ghana police service was resolved to deal ruthlessly with all criminal
elements.
On
how they would ensure safety on roads, he said, “We will strictly enforce the
traffic regulations and deal severely with recalcitrant drivers who flout the
regulations with impunity”.
He
said there would also be an enhanced deployment of officers from the Motor
Traffic and Transport Department with the necessary logistics to enforce the
laws on the roads.
“We
will also increase the deployment of traffic officers to ensure free flow of
traffic before during and after the season,” he added.
He
urged businessmen and people transacting business or transporting large sums of
money to seek the assistance of the police or use the banks to prevent attacks.
“Endeavour
to inform the police on any criminal activity or suspicious characters within
your vicinity for timely intervention through our toll free numbers 191 and
18555,” he said.
He reminded the public about a dedicated complaints desk at the National Police Headquarters to handle all forms of unprofessional conduct of police personnel for appropriate redress. Members of the public can also call 0550323323 and 0275000156 on voice calls and SMS, and 0206639121 for WhatsApp to report such cases.
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey
