POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY, ALL TIME LOW

The Bureau of Public Safety has followed events unfolding in Sogakope, since Sunday 29th February, 2020, of citizens’ unrest in protest of a police alleged [delayed) action in the wake of a murder of an influential assembly man.

While the Bureau largely condemns vandalization of property and the violent attacks on an institution of State; we urge the police to work assiduously to improve accountability to citizens at all levels of our society, which is currently at all time low. There is no doubt that the incidence of violent crime has been on the rise in recent years, coupled with poor police accountability, inconsistent demonstration of professionalism, poor visibility, and the lack of or absence of information on crime and clearance rate; the mistrust and the lack of confidence in the service to maintain public tranquility and law and order will only grow and lead to deepened acrimony between the service and citizens.

 

The Bureau therefore urges the Police administration to act in earnest to further open up the service to be more responsive and proactively accountable so as to assure citizens of their safety and security. We wish to further advise that, continuous failure in this regard will effectively result in a total breakdown of trust in the police service. This has the potential to ultimately lead to a challenge of the legitimacy of government’s authority, as the police are the most visible manifestation of such authority.

Nana Yaw Akwada,
(Executive Director)