Weed the bad lots from Police Service
The recent arrest of a Police Inspector stationed at Gomoa Nyanyano in the Central Region for allegedly stealing electric cables is very significant.
The suspect, Inspector Emmanuel Ametepey, and his accomplice, who is said to be on the run, were said to have stolen nine bundles of electric cables being used for a rural electrification project at Nankese, a village near Agona Odoben in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District.
According to the Agona Swedru Police, the two suspects contracted the driver of a truck to cart the stolen items from the village to Kasoa last Thursday evening.
Inspector Ametepey was arrested by a police patrol team on the Swedru-Oda highway.
The arrest is significant in a number ways. That the police arrested one of their own is an indication that the police are not as biased as the public perceives them to be.
To a very large extent, the public is of the opinion that the police shield their own, even when they have done wrong.
Often, trotro and taxi drivers offer the front seats of their vehicles to policemen in uniform to give the drivers a smooth journey because the assumption is that once a policeman sees another on a vehicle, that vehicle will not be checked.
We congratulate the policemen who arrested this cable-stealing colleague. The arrest of the inspector must send a signal to the public that there are many upright policemen, a development that does a lot of good to the image of the police and their motto, “Service with integrity”.
Added to this, the police have lent credence to the fact that their patrol teams are working in the interest of the nation and not wasting the taxpayers’ money, since their vehicles and operations are fuelled by the taxpayer.
In spite of these pluses, the arrest of the police suspect for stealing and other policemen for robbery and defilement/rape in recent times is worrisome because the police have the core duty of protecting lives and property, while enforcing the law, and so for some policemen to be found wanting calls for some action to address the problem.
It is true that there are some bad lots in every profession but the ramifications of having bad policemen in the service could be grave.
Could there be something wrong with the recruitment process? For instance, are checks on the backgrounds of those recruited sufficient? Is it due to lack of supervision?
While the Daily Graphic commends the patrol team for being firm and hardworking, it calls on the Police Administration to look at the factors that could make policemen who are supposed to protect the citizenry be involved in acts that are frowned upon by all right-thinking people.
The service should deal ruthlessly with all those whose acts tend to bring the name of the service into disrepute.
