A criminologist is counselling Ghanaians to adopt “commonsense” measures in this yuletide and beyond, to ward off criminals whom he says have been highly motivated by the society.

Charging security agencies to avoid last-minute preparation during festive seasons, Prof. Ken Attafuah equally advised individuals to adopt what he described as a target hardening measures - using strong doors, burglary-proof windows, moving in groups and being vigilant.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Tuesday, he lamented that Ghanaians are not security conscious.

“We have to reduce the reward of crime...because we have in our country a large army of highly motivated offenders: people who have very little to lose and very much to gain by armed robbery.”

Individuals ought to be their own security guards and security keepers of their neighbours, he suggested.

Prof. Attafuah also admonished against living a lonely life as well as going to wrong places at the wrong time.

He also mentioned environmental design such as getting lights on the streets as way the state can combat crime.

He advocated for an invigorating support for the Ghana Police Service. For instance, he said, it is extremely important for both vehicle and foot patrols to be increased; a measure he believes would go a long way to at least delay penetration of robbers.

The criminologist identified robbery as one of the easiest and efficient means of making quick money.

“So if you have a large army of unemployed, despondent, hopeless [young people], who don’t see much of a future, they are very easily motivated, either by contract killers or by their own greed or the lure of monetary gain to attack people”, he stated.

Prof. Attafuah also bemoaned the fact that though long custodial sentences handed to criminals have been widely publicised, they have not served intended purpose of deterrence.

 Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service says it has put in place a number of crime fighting measures to ensure the safety of citizens.

Persons who feel their lives are in danger at any time have been advised to call MTN and Vodafone line 18555, 191 on all networks or 0302773906.