IGP introduces policy to recruit qualified relatives of fallen officers

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, has revealed that qualified relatives of officers who die in the line of duty will be recruited into the Ghana Police Service.

He said this is to compensate the family of the deceased for the loss while speaking at a public lecture held at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Thursday, 11 August 2022.

The lecture was on the theme: “The changing face of policing in Ghana: expectations and the role of the university community”.

Dr. Dampare disclosed that this was part of a number of measures the Ghana Police administration was undertaking to motivate the officers to offer their best to the service.

“When a police officer dies on duty, we have put new measures in place to ensure that a relative of the deceased officer who is qualified is recruited into the service as part of efforts to urge our officers to do their best in protecting the public,” he said.

Hinting at his vision for the Ghan Police Service, he stated that he wants the service to be a positive reference globally.

“We want a police service of the people, by the people, and for the people. We want to make the service the best institution in the country and a reference point in the world,” he added.

The IGP further implored the citizenry to criticise the police constructively in order not to discourage the officers.

“Criticise us, but please do so constructively so that the men and women of the service are not demoralised,” he pleaded.

Meanwhile, the IGP has also outlined measures to tackle corruption in the Ghana Police Service.

“We decided to access ourselves from your perspectives. We have been tagged as unprofessional, corrupt, and what have you. We are not denying that we may have some recalcitrant officers amongst us. We are doing all we can to pluck them out. But we will never accept that we are the most corrupt institution.”

“It is unfortunate, all those researches are questionable. They have challenges,” he said in reply to various reports tagging the law enforcement agency as a corrupt institution.