From Ishaque Agyei, Cape Coast
A–two- week training programme for aides to the officers of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service in the Central Region ended over the weekend in Cape Coast. The course was designed to equip the participants with basic investigation skills to enhance their capacity.
The 175 officers went through interrogation and interviews, arrest, detention and searches, identification methods and Basic Investigative Skills. Officers were also taken through Report writing and Communication Skills, Human Rights and Crime Scene Management, Selected Topics on Criminal Law, Preparation of Dockets, CID Forms and surveillance.
Addressing the participants, the Director General of CID, COP Prosper Kwame Ablor, revealed that the course was part of series of basic detective training programmes, earmarked for this year, and that officers in Ashanti Region had already had their share for six weeks. He noted that one core function of the CID was crime detection and that they could effectively perform the task by investigating cases diligently.
According to COP Ablor, the Police Administration was aware of a few unscrupulous officers engaging in negative practices, which dent the good image of the service and advised them to turn a new leaf before the law catches up with them. He urged them to live above reproach in the performance of their duties as police officers and that by so doing they could distance themselves from negative tendencies. According to him, integrity and high ethical conduct are what the police service stands for.
COP Ablor stated that with the pedigree of resource persons who facilitated the training, he is of the hope that when the officers return to their various stations, much improvement would be noticed in the way they investigate cases. For his part, the Central Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ransford Moses Ninson stressed that the essence of the course was to equip the officers with requisite knowledge to enhance their performance and to execute their duties with professionalism.
According to him, training had been a pivot upon which organizations turns around to ensure the achievements of its visions and mission and that Ghana police Service is of no exception. DCOP Ninson appreciated the concrete steps taken by the Director General of CID to sharpen the skills of the investigators to ensure the enhancement of the police image. He was of the hope that the knowledge acquired by the officers would be put to good use to affirm the Police Administration’s Campaign on the Re-affirmation of public Confidence in the Ghana Police Service.
