Residents of Sekondi/Takoradi have called for urgent measures to curb the rising incidents of car break-ins, prostitution and use of fake currencies in the Metropolis.
Hitherto a peaceful place, Sekondi/Takoradi has been faced with reported cases of use of fake currency, car break-in and harassment of people by prostitutes at various points.
Records made available to the Daily Graphic indicate that car burglary and use of fake currencies occur at hotels, restaurants and drinking bars.
The thieves, who are said to operate with saloon cars, allegedly park close to the vehicles of their victims and use master keys to open the door and steal its contents.
Items such as laptops, mobile phones, cameras, passport, driving licence, electricity prepaid cards, and huge amounts of cash, among others, are stolen.
Prostitutes also harass visitors to various food joints and drinking bars.
Some who normally parade themselves to catch the attention of clients, have changed their style and aggressively pursue potential clients.
The Regional Commander, DCOP Alhaji Mahama Hamidu, has described these vices as worrisome and said the police had mapped out plans to combat them.
Regarding the use of fake currencies, he advised people at the sales points to be observant.
He noted that many sales persons collected money without looking at the features, adding that even though there was enough education before and after the introduction of the new currency, many operators of bars and traders were ignorant of the features.
He said as a matter of urgency the police would join forces with the Bank of Ghana to educate traders, commercial drivers, bar operators on the features of both the fake and the good notes.
“With that we will be sure that the traders will be able to identify fake currency from the good one and call for the arrest of the people who are using it to buy from them,” he said.
He indicated that those changing monies also had to be registered so that the police would be able to know the source of their monies to enable them to act accordingly.
“As part of our move we will first ask them to regularise and if they fail to do so, we will then clamp down on them,” DCOP Hamidu said.
DCOP Hamidu said many crimes went unreported and urged the public to report any crime immediately to the police to ensure that evidence was not tempered with, which normally happens when the crime is reported days later.
“Our police officers are on duty all day and night and patrol teams are all over, therefore report the crime immediately,” he said.
He gave an assurance that the police would do all it could to protect investors and the citizens and ensure that the city, as well as the region, maintained its peace.
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