The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr James Oppong-Boanuh, recently stated that the quest to transform the service would depend on the quality of training the personnel of the service receive. According to him, it would only take quality training to produce an effective and productive human resource for positive organisational development and transformation.
These exceptional qualities, he mentioned, would enable the service to effectively discharge its constitutional duties in the enforcement of the law, protecting lives and properties and keeping the peace and security of the country.
“It is a known fact that quality of service delivery or product of every organisation, like ours, largely depends on the quality of its human resources,” adding “I believe we are at a stage where the computer guys will say if you put in good material you will produce good material, but if you put in bad material you will also get bad material,” he added.
It is worthy to stress here that the respected IGP never mentioned the wholesale recruitment of political party “boys and girls” as one of the panacea for improving the image of the service.
He also did not say the use of brutish force, unnecessary show of power or paying money to secure recruitment was the best way to sanitise the service. He was rather emphatic that quality training was the way out and also emphasised that the people recruited would definitely determine the quality of personnel .This, he demonstrated with the “garbage in garbage out” approach to illustrate that in an institution such as the police service, poor input would produce faulty output.
The Chronicle agrees with the IGP because his honest analysis of the situation reflects a firm position we hold, regarding the police service as an institution. This is because, many politicians have arguably turned the service into an avenue for creating employment for many political party followers and often boast of the number of party “boys and girls” they have successfully recruited into the service.
Evidently, most of these “party boys and girls” who get recruited through political machinations often show no respect to the rules and regulations that govern their conducts as police personnel. As an institution mandated to maintain law and order in the country, devoid of political correlations, our concern is that Ghana Police Service must, as a matter of urgency, examine its current mode of recruitment.
Arguably, it is open secret that many of those who seek recruitment into the service do not do so because of their innermost love for the profession. It is, however, an honest fact that many apply to be recruited because of the high levels of unemployment in the country, but not because it is their dream profession.
This might account for the numerous infractions we witness on a regular basis among some police personnel in the country. This situation does not also suggest that once they join the service, they cannot be properly trained to fine tune their minds, so that they would be abreast with the rudiments of the profession.
There are enough testimonies to suggest that it is high time politicians stay away from all police recruitments while the service also make background checks on any would be police man or woman a topmost priority.
It is our firm belief that this would go a long way to make the call by the IGP a relevant one that would positively change or reform the police service and make professionalism, its hallmark. The is the more reason we want to associate ourselves with the good ideas of the IGP to have personnel of the service effectively trained for effective policing
We, therefore, want to challenge the current IGP, who has critically examined the situation and realised all shortcomings, to put in place all the necessary arrangements that will ensure effective policing in the country. We are very much aware of the numerous reforms he has introduced to improve the service, particularly in addressing the gap in the training and curricula of the Police Service.
However, we call for the institution of practical measures that would ensure that only those who genuinely deserve to join the service, in spite of its challenges, are recruited. It is our view that this would help to end the scenario of “garbage in, garbage out” mode of recruitment that has arguably characterised recruitment into the service.
The post Editorial: We cannot agree hundred per cent with IGP appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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