The President of the Institute of Security Disaster and Emergency Studies, Dr. Ishmael Norman, has raised concerns over certain developments within the Ghana Police Service.

While applauding the Dampare-led Ghana Police administration for their transparency in the ongoing investigations into the bullion van robberies, Dr. Norman has highlighted some questions that must be answered.

Early Tuesday morning, a statement from the Police Service indicated that two police officers who had earlier been arrested and indicted over their involvement in the robberies had died from gunshot wounds sustained while they were assisting the police raid a gang hideout.

According to Dr. Norman, taking key witnesses on such an expedition was an act of poor judgement on the part of the police, considering the fact that they were not properly suited up for the event.

“The whole approach, taking a key witness to basically the hideout of other criminals or the gang was a poor judgement on the part of the police without protective gear, flat jacket, bulletproof vests, helmet anything like that,” he said on JoyNews' PM Express on Wednesday.

He explained that the suspects need not have joined the raid and could have simply communicated directly to the raiding team via electronic means.

“In today’s communication world, you don’t have to carry a witness to the spot where a crime took place to get evidence. It could have been on the radio, it could have been on the phone and direct the team that was going to the place,” he said.

Dr. Norman further added that it was rather suspicious that following a shootout as the Police had recounted, it was only the two key suspects that had sustained gunshot wounds and died.

According to him, this looks like something more nefarious is at play to hide the real kingpins or the major benefactors of criminal activities within the Police Service.

“It just doesn’t make sense, no matter how hard you try to be charitable to the police, it just doesn’t make sense.

“So it was incredulous to say the least that the two essential people got killed, nobody else got killed. Where do we go from here? The questions that flow from there is what did they know and who did they know information about that was damning to those people?” he said.

He has, therefore, called for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry to dig into the criminal cells within the Police force.

“If they were killed, if they were murdered, who gave the order?

“Dr. Dampare has always said he’s going to rid Ghana of criminals and the way he talks it’s as if the problem is not within the police, it is the civilians who are enemies of the state and now we realize that the true enemies of the state are the policemen themselves. Not all of them,” he said.

“So we need to see how deep the corruption in the police is and who are the principles who stand to benefit and so on and so forth. I will like to know the money that was taken from all the banks who got what and how much? Because there are too many unanswered questions and until the evidence is made very clear, the Ghana Police is going to have a much bigger image problem to manage,” he added.