A section of the police officers
About 3224 police recruits have passed out from five police training schools to increase the human resource of the Ghana Police Service, and boost efforts at addressing the internal security of the country.
The recruits include about 1,953 males and some 1,020 females. They constitute the first batch of recruits for 2022 who have completed the Basic Police Training programme.
The graduation ceremonies were held simultaneously in Accra, Koforidua, Ho, Kumasi and Pwalugu, with 847, 416, 361, 612 and 725 of the recruits respectively being trained at the various locations.
The Director-General of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), COP Ken Yeboah, who was the reviewing officer for the parade, said the Service, under the new administration, had positioned itself to ensure that personnel exhibit international best practices in consonance with the vision of the Service.
He said that would enhance the way the police control crowd and maintain law and order in the country.
“This is the first batch of recruit intake since the government gave clearance for recruitment of 5,000 men and women into the Service,” COP Yeboah said, adding that the second and third batches were still in training.
“At the senior officer level, the Police Academy, for the first time in history, is running Cadet Officers Courses for 308 personnel at a session, which is the biggest number witnessed at the Academy,” the Director-General of CID indicated.
Intakes at the training schools in Koforidua and Ho were all males. From Koforidua, an all-male 416 new recruits at the Koforidua Police Training School passed out as General Constables and General Sergeants.
The number also included 50 under cadets [graduates] who passed out as General Sergeants at the event held at the Jubilee Park to officially admit the new police officers into the Ghana Police Service
Security alert
Mr Yeboah further indicated that emerging crimes such as terrorism, cyber related crimes, new policing challenges and changes in modus operandi of criminals were some of the issues that impinge upon on the country.
This, he said, translates into increased demand on the personnel of Ghana Police Service to deliver services that are more diverse, complex, skilled and specialized in order to deal with current crime trends.
“It is to equip Police personnel with the requisite knowledge and the skills needed to effectively deal with these challenges of modern policing that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) introduced a paradigm shift in recruit training modules and changing focus in policing in the country as a whole,” he said.
The recruits, he mentioned, acquired skills in riding, driving, swimming, crowd control, incident and disaster management, crime scene management, traffic management, radio communication, intelligence gathering, community based patrols and charge office management.
Others are access control, arrest and search procedures, use of force procedures, human rights, client care & professional police ethics, tactical progression, weapon handling and high risk operation to equip the trainees with the requisite skills to be able to respond to emergency cases and any eventuality.
Professionalism
Mr Yeboah tasked the recruits to police to win public trust through respecting and protecting human dignity as well as maintaining and upholding human rights of all persons at all times.
He also urged the newly trained officers to endeavour to be civil in their dealings with members in their communities, respect their seniors and learn from their rich experiences whenever necessary.
“In the face of scorn of ridicule, maintain your calm; always ensure that whatever you do is legal, official, professional and follows conventionally accepted ways of doing things in the Service,” he said.
He entreated the new officers to accept constructive criticisms, and be accountable to the law, the community and the Ghana Police Service.
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