The Volta Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Guyiri Dery, has called on personnel of the Ghana Police Service not to display political association and sentiments towards any political party since such behaviour could compromise their integrity as peace keepers. "Although we may have our affiliations to some political parties, we must guard against the tendency to openly display such political association and sentiments, since such behaviour could compromise our integrity as peace keepers", he stated. Speaking at a joint security briefing in Koforidua last week, Mr Dery said "if any election should be credible and peaceful, major players such as the security agencies and the Electoral Commission should be seen as neutral and effective". Such neutrality, he noted, would help maintain their integrity, which if compromised would undermine the public's confidence in the outcome of the elections, he stated. The meeting which was aimed at creating a platform for personnel of the service to deliberate on pertinent security problems facing both the Eastern and the Volta regions was attended by regional, divisional and district police commanders and officers of the two regions. Concerns such as general security, preparations for the December elections, traffic management, internal disciplinary matters and how to win public goodwill to compliment police efforts were discussed. The Volta Regional Police Commander said since the security agencies, particularly the police, played an important role in the conduct of peaceful and fair elections, any untoward ad on their part could seriously diminish the public's confidence in the outcome of such elections. He said as peace keepers , the public looked up to them for the conduct of a violence-free and credible elections, so they should refrain from associating- with any political party, either by standing or sitting on their political platforms or carrying their campaign materials. He reminded the personnel that due to the competent role they played in the conduct of a number of violence-free elections in the past, several countries on the African continent and other parts of the world had always requested their presence during their election processes. For his part, the Eastern Regional Police Commander, ACP George Anko-Bil, said despite the success chalked up in the reduction of crime, a number of negative factors such as chieftaincy and land disputes, armed robbery, illegal mining and chainsaw operations as well as the unrestrained activities of nomadic herdsmen had undermined such security gains. He gave the assurance that criminals and miscreants who "will deny the people their freedom will be pursued and brought to book". ACP Anko-Bill pointed out that police officers whose actions would dent the image of the service would be smoked out to restore the reputation of the service, adding "this will ensure self-discipline and respect that the people are crying for". He called on the public to volunteer information that could lead to the arrest of criminals in society. Source: Daily Graphic