Nowhere in the world has police fire-for-fire with armed robbers solved the problem of violent crimes, criminologist, Prof Ken Attafuah has said. His statement comes in the wake of aggressive policing which has led to the killing of over 15 armed robbers across the country in the past couple of weeks. Interior Minister Cletus Avoka has declared war on the armed robbers and has justified the apparent 'shoot-to-kill' approach by the police even though he admits the policy has not been officially sanctioned. In an interview with Joy News, Prof Ken Attafuah said the shoot-to-kill policy is only but a temporary measure to assume the police are in control, but that is not the solution to the problem, adding that innocent lives are sometimes lost as a result of this policy. He cited instances in Taifa and Dansoman, suburbs of Accra, where innocent people were shot dead by the police on suspicion that they were armed robbers. He argued that violent crimes are always beneficial to the criminal because it is an efficient and a relatively easy way of making money, adding that only few armed robbers desist from the act because of their fear of being taken out by the police. "They only consider the police as a nuisance and are ready to engage them," he said. Prof Attafuah conceded however that the “police are allowed to use reasonable force to take down a suspected armed robber if they hold a sincere belief that it is necessary and appropriate to use such amount of force in order to ensure the efficient, safe and economical enforcement of the law.” Explaining four cardinal principles under which an armed robber can be killed, Prof Attafuah said the police must be ready to account for the ammunitions used and must adhere to the principle of proportionality, saying, the police would be wrong in killing an armed robber wielding a knife when he could have shot to disable him and effect his arrest. He added, there must be absolute necessity for the killing and the act itself must have a strong basis in law. He explained that in the unfortunate event of death, the police officer concerned must be hauled before a service enquiry to explain the circumstances under which the death occurred. Government, he said, must fashion a long term solution to the problem by investing in day care facilities, paying nursery teachers as well as those in tertiary education. With such a foundation in education, children would have more opportunities in life than to engage in crime violence for a living, he stressed. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana