The Minister of the Interior, Mr Kwamena Bartels, has proposed the creation of a unit in the Ghana Police Service (GPS) that will give special protection and advice to people who receive death threats from unidentified assailants. This unit, he said, would go a long way to combat crime, enhance the capacity of the police to apprehend criminals in the society, as well as teach people who receive death threats what they should do and what not to do. Mr Bartels made the appeal at the launch of the Police Service Trust Fund (POLTRUST) in Accra on Thursday. The POLTRUST is aimed at raising funds to complement the government's efforts at resourcing the GPS to put the police in a better position to provide the much needed security for the socio-economic development of the country. In his address, Mr Bartels commended the GPS for its immense role in combating crime in the country in spite of the numerous challenges. "The Ghana Police Service plays an extremely important role in our communities, and over the years, the service has performed extremely well in spite of the many constraints and demanding challenges," he said. He said for the country to sustain the current level of macro-economic stability and the rule of law, there was the need to deal with the crime situation in the country. For this reason, Mr Bartels said the government was increasing the staff strength of the police service and other security agencies, building more police stations, improving the working conditions and bringing high technology into the security agency operations in general. He said the recent improvement in infrastructure and logistics, as well as the procurement of new vehicles, equipment and operational uniforms for the security agencies, indicated the government's commitment to transforming the security sector. Mr Bartels said the effort of the Police Service to combat crime would be meaningless if they did not receive support from the public and said the public should not shield criminals but report them to the police for them to be arrested. He explained that in recent times, the security of each and every one is linked to the other, saying that improving security within our community must concern all. Mr Bartels advised police personnel to desist from acts which could tarnish the image of the service and said the police administration would not shield any cop who was bent on denting the image of the Service. In his welcoming address, the Chairman of the Police Council, Justice Samuel Glenn Baddo, said statistics available indicated that crime was reducing in the country. He said in spite of the logistical and welfare problems confronting the GPS, it had continued over the years to protect and defend the citizenry. Justice Baddo, who is a retired Supreme Court Judge, said the launch of the POLTRUST was very significant since it would complement the government's effort at making the Police Service efficient in the discharge of its duties. He said the fund would also improve the welfare of the officers of the Service and consequently improve their conditions of service. Mr Baddo appealed to the business community, particularly the banking institutions, insurance companies, other corporate organisations and philanthropists, to make contributions to the fund and added that contributions could be sent to the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) or to the Police Headquarters on the La road in Accra. Earlier, an eight-member board of trustees was inaugurated to manage the fund. The Board has Mr Tismark Inja, the Chairman of Milicom Ghana, as chairman. Some of the officers the Daily Graphic spoke to after the launch hailed the fund and said it would go a long way to improve conditions in the Police Service. They contended that the GPS was ill-equipped and conditions of the personnel were not the best and expressed the hope that the fund would "turn around their conditions of service". Source: Daily Graphic