POLICE MUST DEVELOP RAPPORT WITH PUBLIC (PAGE 17)

THE Western Regional Police Commander, DCOP Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, has called on district and divisional police commanders in the region to develop a good rapport between them and the public before, during and after the elections.
He said the success or failure of the forthcoming elections, to a large extent would depend on the conduct of police officers on election duties.
“Recent event in the build-up to the elections may raise public fear regarding the safety and security of those who will be participating in the process as voters, election officers and party officials and candidates or polling agents.
Therefore, we have work to do,” he said.
Mr Alhassan said the anxiety was further heightened by the fact that similar processes had been turbulent in some countries in Africa.
The commander, who made the call during a retreat for senior members of his team, said “we, together with other security agencies, have a very crucial role to play; our fellow compatriots and the international community are looking up to us, and we must not fail them”.
Mr Alhassan told the officers that as police officers on election duties, they should treat everyone equally and that they should not involve themselves physically or verbally in political activities.
He said it was therefore essential that police officers, considering the current task ahead, should display the highest level of professionalism in order to reassure the voters that their safety and security were guaranteed.
“Remember, the police are seen as representative of the law and justice. Consequently, their daily actions, particularly during election duties, are to be carried out with the highest standard of fairness,” he said.
The regional commander said prompt response by a police officer to a given situation was necessary to prevent a minor incident from becoming a major problem during election duties.
The regional commander said in the ongoing campaign, the police required effective intelligence information throughout the campaign period in order to identify threats to campaign.
“As district commanders, you are strongly advised to continue to fetch information and keep a watch on the development of political situations,” he said, adding however that they should not involve themselves in activities of the political parties.
He warned that it would be inexcusable for a police officer to undermine the law, the freedom of any political party or any other organisation, because officers were expected to create safe and secured environment in the region and other parts of the country for political activities.