The Police Administration has pledged to reduce violent crime by 20 percent this year. Armed robbery and drug trafficking are the major targets. As of September last year, statistics across the country showed an eight per cent reduction from 1,150 cases between January and September 2008 to 1,054 over the same period last year. The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, told the Daily Graphic on Tuesday that the crime situation was largely under control, especially armed robbery which caused havoc and concern among the populace. He said with the kind of results so far achieved, the public should be convinced that the government was not relenting on its promise to clamp down on criminals. “What is expected of us is to consider our role as stakeholders to collectively fight crime, reduce criminality, provide justice for all and ensure the transformation and reformation of miscreants so that they can revert to society reformed and changed to help with the economic development of communities and the country at large,” he said. Mr Quaye said the police had hitherto worked to contain crime based on directives from the Police Headquarters through the adoption of strategies and appropriate responses. He said they were now adopting a scientific approach to criminal investigations and cited the recent busting of the four armed robbers who reportedly killed a pastor on December 30, last year. The IGP said the Police Administration was seeking to improve policing through its visibility and the investigative skills of personnel. He said the structures, capacities and facilities of the Crime and Forensic Laboratory were to be greatly enhanced so that pieces of evidence sent there would be properly and scientifically analysed. “The laboratory should be capable of properly analyzing drugs sent there, questioning documents, analyzing finger-prints picked from crime scenes and also facilitating computerized criminal research and ballistic examination, among others,” he said. He noted that the Police Administration expected the population to grow, new settlements, new businesses, commercial activities, among other things, to expand within the period, which would also come with it increased crime. “We pray that poverty and unemployment levels will also reduce so that we meet our targets,” he said. He said the Police Administration would also be reviewing its human resource stock to ensure that capable and qualified staff were recruited, while their ability to perform, the numbers and distribution of personnel were seriously scrutinized. Mr Quaye said a database to provide information readily would be created and developed, while annual budgets would be linked to strategic planning. Source: Daily Graphic /Ghana