Police crowd control 'abysmal' in recent times - Adib Saani

Mr Adib Saani, Security Analyst and Executive Director, Centre for Human Security and Peace Building, says the Police, in recent times, have been “abysmal” with their crowd control mechanisms.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Tuesday, the security analyst warned that the frequent “police brutalities” being experienced lately could cause citizens to develop disaffection towards the Police.

He alluded to the clash between the Police and students of the Islamic Senior High School (SHS) as an incident that was badly handled by Police.

The Islamic SHS at Abrepo in the Ashanti Region, Monday embarked on a street protest against frequent vehicular knockdowns in front of their school.

What began as a peaceful protest from the students, turned violent as some of the students blocked a section of the main Abrepo Junction-Barekese Road during the demonstration.

This was to prevent vehicles from commuting the road, especially the section directly in front of the school.

Information gathered by GNA on a visit to the school indicated that no sooner had the students blocked the road than a team of police personnel detailed from the Regional Police Command, stormed the area, and allegedly sprayed tear gas on the demonstrating students.

According to Mr Sommik Duut, Ashanti Regional Manager, Ghana Ambulance Service, over 25 students who collapsed on the spot were rushed to the Hospital.

Dr George Akuffo Dampare, Inspector-General of Police, has visited the site for a first-hand assessment of the situation.

Investigations have also commenced, with some senior Police officers, including Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Kwasi Akomeah-Apraku, Acting Ashanti Regional Police Commander, interdicted.

Mr Saani described the incident as unfortunate, adding that, no matter the conduct of the students, the Police should not have still exercised restraint and acted with due diligence.

“These are just students and if the Police had conducted themselves professionally, we would not have had these number of injuries. The Police was high handed and did not exercise diligence and restraint. No matter the threats posed by the students, it did not justify the actions of the Police. Their actions were not consistent with the threats, and I think this is an unfortunate incident,” he said.

He lauded the IGP for taking keen interest in the matter, however, he said the issue should be probed deeper to ascertain the criminal aspect of the incident and ensure that all those found culpable were dealt with.

Mr Saani said one of the surest ways to promote a healthy and progressive civil-police relations was to hold personnel accountable for their actions and not make any Police feel superior in the eyes of the law.

“A lot of Ghanaians seem to be losing confidence just because Police do the wrong thing and are not held accountable. Cover ups are detrimental to the Police service. When such things happen, more and more people lose confidence in the security agencies because the Police would be seen as outsiders and not good enough for the security of the state,” he said.

He advised that when Police were deployed to handle protests, they must first establish a channel of communication between them and the protest leaders to agree on certain modalities to prevent escalation of issues.

Mr Saani said Police had to establish a new comprehensive guiding protocol on crowd control to determine what “proportional force” was, on what basis that was determined, and at what time such force should be applied.

He said Police must improve its training regime from being combatant in nature to rather promoting peace.

“We need to train officers to realise that they are a service and not a force and they need to be able to think on their feet and be able to apply the rules in a more professional manner,” Mr Saani added.