Journalists trained on crime reporting

Some selected journalists have been trained on crime reporting, crime scene management and safety by the Ghana Police Service as part of efforts to ensure a peaceful election on December 7.

The journalists were educated on the mandate of the Police Service and the need to maintain and enforce law and order as well as protect life and property, as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution of the Fourth republic.

Speaking at the training programme on Tuesday at the Criminal Investigations Department headquarters in Accra, the head of Public Affairs Unit, Accra Region, Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP Effia Tenge, entreated the participants to consider wearing a light body armour vest and protective headgears when assigned to cover a crime stories.

She urged journalists to strike cordial relationship with the Ghana Police Service and seek for inquiries and the needed information to aid their reportage.

DSP Tenge also advised the journalists to ensure that their work does not interfere with that of the police officers.

Don’t be biased

The president of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Affail Monney, urged the journalists to place the interest of the nation first by ensuring unbiased and non-partisan reportage.

He also admonished the journalists to ensure objectivity, accurate, balance and comprehensive information in their line of work.

A crime scene and fingerprint expert of the Ghana Police Service, David Hukportie Selom, reminded the journalists that crime scene investigation is very technical and requires a more serious expertise.

He underscored the need for journalists to know how to approach a crime scene in order to avoid tampering with evidence.

Superintendent Hukportie said the Police by law are mandated to protect the citizenry and there is “the need for you to be circumspect in your reportage on crime and not to incite the public in your publications.”