Police Service must embrace maintenance culture

­The Ghana Police Service has just received 1,500 new motorbikes to enhance police visibility and effective policing in the country.

The presentation of the motorbikes by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last Monday was a sign of another commitment by the government to provide the service with the necessary logistics it requires to help it carry out its mandate of maintaining law and order and protecting lives and properties.

The use of motorbikes, relatively small in size and easily manoeuvrable, allows the police to get to road crash scenes more quickly when incidents such as vehicle collisions slow down access to those scenes by vehicles.

A motorcycle is quicker and more manoeuvrable than a car and able to reach up to and stop violators in heavy traffic. This means these new bikes for the police will enhance their community presence and improve on response time.

The President assured the police that the presentation was just the beginning, and that additional motorcycles would come in soon to ensure that every single community in the country benefited from the enhanced community policing model.

He added that the government would increase the number of motorcycles to 5,000 by the end of next year.

This development is very positive, and we urge the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to ensure that no community is left out in the distribution of the motorbikes, even as the Police Service prioritises the areas that are most critical.

We entreat the policemen who will use the motorbikes to take good care of them and, more importantly, pay particular attention to their own safety and the safety of other road users while on the road.

The Daily Graphic urges the Police Administration to take the issue of maintenance seriously and abide by maintenance schedules for the new motorbikes to ensure that they do not end up being abandoned in garages a few months after use.

There must be funds to maintain them because if the police get all the required logistics and equipment but there are no funds to maintain them, then the longevity of the equipment will be sacrificed.

This is where it is important to state that whatever resources are needed for the maintenance of these motorbikes should be pursued by the Police Administration to ensure that the resources are made available. On the other hand, if the administration has to rely on its internally generated funds for that purpose, it should do so.

We are saddened by the fact that driving around town, we see many police vehicles abandoned at roadside mechanic shops, sometimes for so long a time and at the mercy of the weather, leading to the question whether the Police Administration has a proper fleet management system.

The Daily Graphic reckons the administration has its own garages for maintaining its fleet and wonders why some police vehicles are often seen at roadside private garages.

The police must demonstrate high proficiency in their fleet management and maintenance schedules because without it, they cannot function better.

Compared to the military, hardly would one come across a breakdown military vehicle at a roadside garage or abandoned by the roadside. How is it that the military is able to maintain its fleet more effectively and efficiently than the police?

The IGP, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, on receiving the motorbikes, commended the government and Ghanaians for the support extended to the Police Service and gave an assurance that the police would continue to do all it takes to maintain the peace and ensure the security and safety of all.

We expect this assurance from the police chief to be extended to the maintenance of the motorcycles.