RESPECT COMMUNITY PROTECTION UNIT PERSONNEL (Page 30)

Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi


THERE is no doubt that the introduction of the Community Protection Unit, under the National Youth Employment Programme in the country, has come to support the already understaffed Ghana Police Service.
Personnel of this unit, however, need to be accorded the needed respect, and the efforts of those in the various communities were appreciated, instead of intimidating them as has become the norm more than the exception .
A close observation of most of the personnel of this unit reveals that they have a very high sense of duty, but members of the public, especially commercial drivers, often tend to dampen their morals.
In the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly, for instance, those attached to the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service are doing very well, but motorists are always ridiculing them.
Their job at traffic lights, roundabouts, zebra crossings, among others, is to ensure that there is some level of sanity on the road, but motorists always ignore the personnel’s instructions, and sometimes insult them.
The big question is, if we refuse to accord these hard working young men the respect they deserve, considering what they are paid and the delays associated with the release of funds to pay them, yet they persevere in the performance of their duties.
With the Ghana 2008 tournament just a few days away, there is so much pressure on the Police Service, which has the responsibility for providing security, taking care of other traffic duties on the road as well as attending to emergencies throughout the period and even beyond.
The introduction of the community police could not have been more appropriate than now as the personnel have already been positioned at traffic intersections from 6am to 6pm, while the police focus on other duties that will help promote sanity in society.
On a few occasions, however, taxi drivers have run into the bumper of my vehicle when I stop at zebra crossings in the metropolis for schoolchildren or other members of the public to cross.
But with the introduction of the programme, the personnel have been positioned at vantage points to check the indiscipline on the part of motorists.
I see their work at the traffic lights and at zebra crossings to be very important, because during my recent visit to Washington DC, I observed that even though there were no ‘light offs’, some people dressed in blue shirts and caps and holding whistles could be seen in the middle of the road ensuring that the rights of the pedestrians were guaranteed.
The introduction of the community police and postionining of the personnel at such places, to me, is a very laudable idea, and the personnel must be accorded the needed respect and motivation to enable them to contribute their quota in ensuring safety on the road and the general development of the country.
One can conveniently describe personnel of the Community Protection Unity as indomitable patriots.
Recently, I was caught up in traffic on the West Tanokrom-Airport roundabout in Takoradi, and when I finally got to the filling station near the roundabout, I observed that the only cause of the traffic was that some taxi and trotro drivers had turned part of the road into a parking lot and were picking up passengers.
Even though there were about four community policemen at the spot, the drivers never paid heed to any instructions given.
When I tried to find out why the drivers were ignoring the community police officers, one of the young community police looked at me in desperation.
“Master, we are tired of them. What haven’t we told them? They just don’t care. Therefore, all we have to do is to direct people like you in order that you do not have your vehicles damaged.”
He complained that even though they reported the indiscipline of the drivers to the police, nothing was done about it .
Investigations by the Daily Graphic revealed that many of such vehicles, especially taxis were owned by police officers and, therefore, reporting their drivers to the police amounted to reporting trouble to the troublemaker and nothing will come out of it.
The mere fact that some taxi drivers are driving vehicles owned by police officers makes them lawless, and thus ignore everybody, ignoring the safety on the road. Therefore, it would be very important to advise all police officers to also instruct their driver employees to obey traffic regulations.