Police Service Regulations reviewed

Page 20: June 2, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Police Council has reviewed the existing Police Service Regulation as part of efforts to streamline the operations of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) in line with modern trends.
A copy of the new Police Service Regulation has been forwarded to the Attorney-General’s Department for study and onward transmission to Parliament for consideration.
All the existing Legislative, Executive and Administrative Instruments governing the establishment and conduct of the Ghana Police Service have been embodied in the new Service Regulation.
They include the Police Service Act of 1970, Act 350; Police Service Regulation, LI 993; the Police Service Administration Regulation, LI 880, aspects of the 1992 Constitution, the Police Service Instructions, Police Service Conditions of Service and relevant circulars and administrative instructions, which have been released over the years but had not been passed into law.
The chairman of the Police Council, Mr Justice Sam Glenn Baddoo, told the Daily Graphic that when the new Service Regulation was passed into law, “it will enable the personnel of the service to have access to one document containing all the laws and regulations, which have been promulgated since independence but are scattered in different documents”.
He said since it was inaugurated two years ago, the Council had done a lot of work on the quiet as part of efforts to restructure the service.
He said the Council had also completed a Strategic Policing Plan, which seeks to transform and modernise the GPS in the medium and long term.
“The strategic plan, which will govern the Police Service for the next decade, is in seven volumes each of which is made up of about 60 pages,” he said.
Mr Justice Baddoo, who is a retired Supreme Court Judge, said the strategic plan covered a five-year national policing plan, human resource development, IT modernisation plan, mission, structure and functions of the service, staffing manning plan, transformation of the service and an outline of findings and Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) needs.
He said the Council had also completed a draft policy on recruitment, training, promotions, transfers and restructuring of command positions within the service, which, when approved by Parliament, will be encapsulated into the existing policy guidelines.
Mr Justice Baddoo said the Council was in touch with the government in seeking innovative ways of improving the equipment and logistics state of the service.
He said the government was in the process of securing a loan to address the poor office and residential accommodation needs of the police.
“The Council tasked the Police Administration to renovate barracks in the country, starting with Accra. As a result, Osu, Tesano, Cantonments, Odorkor and Kaneshie barracks have been renovated,” he added.
Mr Justice Baddoo said upon the recommendation of the Police Council, the Police Administration had created new Divisions, Districts and Stations, pointing out that the problem associated with the new expansion initiative was the absence of office and residential accommodation in the regions.
He, however, commended some district assemblies in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Ashanti, Western and Volta regions for demonstrating their willingness to build stations and barracks for the police.
He said the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, had also offered to organise donors to fund the renovation and construction of police cells in the Ashanti Region.
Mr Justice Baddo said police stations that had land were going to have extensions done to their cells, while new central cells would be constructed for police stations whose cells could not have extensions.
He said under the instrumentality of the Council, new salaries and allowances of medical personnel of the Police Hospital were now at par with those of the staff of the Ministry of Health as part of efforts to reduce the exodus of the personnel at the Police Hospital to the MOH and outside the country.
“I want to assure you that the Police Council has already taken bold and concrete steps to restructure the Service,” he said.
Mr Justice Baddoo appealed to the public to support the police with relevant information and other forms of assistance that would enable the police to achieve its organisational goals.
“The council also acknowledges the fact that the Service is grappling with a lot of challenges in recent times. The council is, however, doing its best in addressing these problems, even in the face of logistical constraints,” he stated.