Police administration works at attitudinal change in personnel
The Police Administration has expressed worry over the lukewarm attitude of some police officers in the performance of their duties.
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As a result, the Administration is making the efforts at attitudinal change in police officers through capacity building and training.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 46th cadet officers course in Accra yesterday, the Director General of the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau, Commissioner of Police, Mrs Joana Osei-Poku, said arrogance and lack of civility towards the public were some of the negative attitudes the Police Administration was seeking to eliminate.
Attributing the challenge to the lack of supervision, she said some junior officers dressed shabbily, while others failed to show respect to their superiors.
“The glow and enticement of smart and active policemen and women which appealed to the public are fast fading away," she said.
To meet the growing expectation of society, Mrs Osei-Poku urged police personnel to strive consistently to upgrade their knowledge and skills.
Policing, she said, was a calling and that “an ignorant police officer is a liability and a discredit to both the service and society.”
In view of that, she urged the Police Academy to serve as an avenue for perpetuating good attitudinal values and sharing rich experiences to uplift the esteem of the profession.
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Additionally, the Police Administration, she said, had also developed a handbook and a code of conduct and ethics to help address the problem.
Objective for training
In all, 124 police officers are attending the 46th cadet officers’ course which started on August 16, 2014 and would end on February 7, 2015.
The Commandant of the Police Academy, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Bright Oduro, in a welcome address, explained that the cadet training courses were periodic programmes that depended on needs assessment, performance gaps and availability of vacancies. The training began with the establishment of the Police College, now an academy, in 1959.
The aim of the cadet-training programmes, he said, was to invest in developing future commanders.
He said it was also to ensure the leadership requirements at the tactical level, where policies were implemented were continuously refreshed and sharpened.
Challenges
On the challenges confronting the academy, Mr Oduro said the academy was built to train 50 officers at a time but it had in the past decade been training more than 100 officers in each programme.
“The last cadet course had to deal with 199 officers, including foreign students. With these huge numbers, pressure on the limited facilities directly results in periodic break-downs, not to mention the stress and strain on the resource persons.”
Writer's email: emelia.ennin@graphic.com.gh