The police in Kumasi have debunked assertions that security in the city has broken down. Stressing that the peace and security of people in Ghana’s second largest city has not been punctured in anyway, the Ashanti regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Augustine Gyening said “The few cases of crimes reported in the metropolis must not be misinterpreted as a crisis situation.” Speaking to the Daily Graphic Monday, Mr Gyening said in spite of some “few unfortunate incidents” in the city in recent times the situation could still be describes as normal. “What people must get at the back of their minds is that crime cannot be completely eliminated from society. This is not to say that we are content with the few serious crimes that have happened recently,” he stressed, saying that “Indeed, every life is of value to the police and we are determined to protect the people.” He however stated that since the situation had not got to the crisis level, it has become a source of concern to him when people talked as if Kumasi was crumbling from the activities of criminals. Kumasi has been in the news in recent time for what many see as a rising crime rate and people have called on the police to rise to the challenge and face this emerging security threat with all seriousness. Armed robbery, car snatching and murder are the commonest crimes in the city, with most of them being committed in the night. In the latest crime committed last Saturday night, unknown persons set a Mercedes Benz saloon car belonging to the chief of Asokwa in Kumasi, Nana Fe-Baamoah II, on fire in front of his palace. The attackers also left a written note at the door to the palace asking the chief to be ready for worse attacks in due course. The matter has since been reported to the Asokwa police who are investigating the incident. Around midnight on Sunday, armed robbers in another attack at Santasi held the attendants at a fuel station at gunpoint and robbed them of about GHc 6,000. Even though the police might not have the numbers to be at every corner of the city, the Regional Police Commander nevertheless insisted the police had improved their policing capabilities. He argued that many neighbourhoods were now covered by night joint military/police patrol teams that respond to violent crimes. Mr Gyening was not happy with the political twist some people had coloured some of the crimes with, especially in connection with killings in Kumasi.