The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong has charged the Director General of CID and Operations as well as all Regional Commanders to ensure that operational units, for which they have direct responsibility, do not engage in investigating civil cases or become debt collectors.

According to him, "mixing up of purely civil cases with the duty of the police to detect, arrest and investigate crime is completely unacceptable".

He mentioned the operational units as the Buffalo, Striking Force, Panthers, and Rapid Deployment Force of the Ghana Police Service.

The Police Boss was addressing Commanders of the various Operational Units in Accra.

He also found the arrests of relatives of suspects as "despicable since criminal liability in Ghana did not extend to a suspect's relative".

According to the IGP relatives could only be arrested when they obstructed the Police from arresting a suspect or there was an indication of complicity in the commission of the crimes such as abetment and conspiracy among other things.

He emphasised that the Property Fraud Unit of the Service should not "dabble in land cases just to recover debts except where there is some actual perpetration of fraud on one person by the other, or where one or more of the parties have indulged in forgery of land documents".

Touching on court orders, the IGP instructed all personnel of the service to avoid being used by litigants to enforce non-existent court orders.

"Police personnel have no automatic right to enforce the decisions of the court against the party who loses a civil case unless where we are expressly directed by the court to assist in executing that judgement", he noted

Mr Acheampong cautioned that the Police Administration would hold senior officers responsible for lack of supervision if their subordinate officers fail to "make the required entries in the station diary".

He praised the Police-Military collaboration, which has boosted law and order in the country.

He also called on the general public to help the police carry out its duties effectively.


Source: The Chronicle