Special police unit beefs up security at shopping malls
The Formed Police Unit (FPU) of the Ghana Police Service has beefed up security as part of an operational campaign to ensure law and order at major public installations during the Christmas and New Year season.
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Teams from the elite unit have been assigned to West Hills Mall, Ghana’s biggest shopping centre, Achimota Retail Centre, the city’s latest mall and Accra Mall, Ghana’s premiere shopping mall, to reinforce existing security and ensure the personal safety of shoppers and visitors.
Men of the FPU are known to be highly disciplined and characteristically move swiftly to contain, demobilise, neutralise and arrest disorderly situations and troublemakers. They will be backed with surveillance at all the three locations by plain-clothes operatives.
To harmonise the seasonal security strategies with existing security regimes at the shopping centres, a team led by the Commander of the FPU, Chief Superintendent Naa Yakubu, conducted site tours, inspected security modules and met with the Board Chairman, Mr Kofi Sekyere, and Management of West Hills Mall and Achimota Retail Centre last week.
Security and personal safety have featured high on the agenda of the board as well as that of the Police Service as it is anticipated that shoppers, revellers and holiday-makers will swarm into West Hills Mall at New Weija in Accra West, Achimota Retail Centre at Dome and
Accra Mall at Tetteh Quarshie as well as other shopping centres as the Christmas season approaches.
After inspecting the security systems for Achimota and West Hills – comprising high-tech electronic surveillance and monitoring systems and teams of ground security personnel – suitable locations were selected for pitching camps for personnel of FPU.
Chief Supt. Naa Yakubu noted that the campaign was “part of a wider national campaign to ensure law and order across the country”.
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He told the board chairman that the FPU personnel were moving in to augment the security system, “and I can assure you that your shops, the shoppers and the visitors will enjoy a very safe, peaceful and trouble-free Christmas festivities this season”.
Beginning this week, the FPU is providing 24-hour armed security coverage every day for West Hills Mall, Achimota Retail Centre and Accra Mall during the yuletide and, according to Commander Yakubu, there are plans to review the unit’s assignment at the malls into a permanent operation for the FPU.
For his part, Mr Sekyere thanked the FPU for its active support in the maintenance of security and personal safety at the shopping centres and said the board placed much premium on its partnership with the Police Service and especially with the FPU.