The rich must help provide effective policing – DCOP Addo

A former Greater Accra Regional Police commander, DCOP Opare Addo says it is not out of place to appeal to citizens for help in the fight against crime.
He said the rich, especially in peripheral communities where robberies are rampant, must help the police with infrastructure, equipment and tools to effectively protect life and property.
He was speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story in reaction to suggestions by police and local government authorities that the people of Amanfrom in Accra must contribute cement and other items for the construction of a police post.
The Municipal Chief Executive of Ga South, Jerry Akwei Thompson this week charged residents of Amanfrom to supply three bags of cement each for the construction of a police post.
“How much does a bag of cement cost? Thirty Ghana cedis. Anybody who has his or her property there must provide those three bags of cement! Anybody who can assist with some chippings, come out with it and let us all work on it [a police post] and complete it in record time, so at least the police command can post two or three policemen to the place to man the area 24 hours a day,” he stated.
“Those who believe in democracy, this is democracy. Democracy is not open-ended, it must be controlled. If you say because of democracy, you will not pay and we will allow you to stay and we will protect you? You must be forced to pay,” he added.
The MCE’s comments have been roundly condemned as reckless and insensitive.
Criminologist Ken Agyemang Attafuah believes asking residents to contribute to the construction of a police post is a dangerous proposition.
“The citizens do not have a duty to provide this kind of support; the duty they have is to pay their taxes. The way the support is being prescribed is dangerous,” he told Joy News Editor, Dzifa Bampoh.
He argued that if the MCE’s proposition were to become the norm and generally accepted, security, a fundamental human right, would be available only to those who can pay.
The minimum any nation can offer its citizens, Prof. Attafuah stressed, is security and this should not be dependent on whether or not one can pay.
Contributing to the discussion, DCOP Opare Addo said imposing levies on citizens for security may be problematic.
He, however, emphasised that appealing to residents of an area to support the police to provide them with security is not wrong.
He said as Regional Commander for Greater Accra, he appealed and got help in the form of vehicles which were used to patrol the streets and minimized crime.
The people of Amanfrom like many other peripheral communities have suffered a string of armed robberies in recent time.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Alhassan, Wednesday toured the area and pledged 100 bags of cement as his contribution to the building of the police post.
He assured the residents more police personnel will be deployed to the area to ensure their safety.
Source – joyfm