Story: George Ernest Asare, Kumasi
AS many as 500 specially trained policemen from the Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) of the Ghana Police Service will be deployed to patrol the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi and its environs during the Ghana 2008 tournament to prevent any crowd violence and criminal activities.
Two hundred others who will be in mufti will also be deployed to complement the activities of the RDF at the stadium and they will be positioned at vantage points to enhance adequate security within the metropolis and its environs.
The acting Ashanti Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Seth Oteng, who made this known during the annual media briefing in Kumasi on Tuesday, said in the course of the tournament, 40 police officers would be deployed to beef up security in Kumasi to ensure that soccer fans enjoyed every aspect of the fiesta.
“Our operational machinery will be in full motion as soon as officials, teams and supporters start arriving in Kumasi. Adequate security will be given to CAF, FIFA and all other officials connected to the tournament,” he said.
ACP Oteng also gave the assurance that “teams will be well protected during and after matches. Routes that lead to the hotels where teams, supporters and officials will lodge will be patrolled and the premises that house them will also be secured against any form of unwanted intrusion.
“Our resolve is to ensure that no criminal takes undue advantage of the number of people who will be coming from other parts of the world to witness the event. Criminals may rob people of their valuables in taxis and on their way to and from the stadium and in town,” he stated, adding that “some taxi drivers may want to swindle persons as those people may not be conversant with the new Ghana cedis”.
ACP Oteng further said the police were adequately prepared to meet such swindlers squarely and urged the public to “patronise taxi- cabs that have been embossed by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), as it is easier to trace those taxis when need be”.
On the general crime situation in Kumasi, the acting Police Commander said from January to June last year, 448 robbery cases were recorded in the region, which made the Police Administration adjudge the region as the most crime prone in the country.
He said the intensity of crime-related cases in the Ashanti Region made the police to strategise to arrest the situation, adding that the Police Administration also deployed more policemen at vantage points and erected more checkpoints, as well as increased foot patrols at specific areas.
Those measures, he said, made a positive impact, as they reduced robbery cases between July and December last year to 147.
ACP Oteng said comparatively the 595 cases recorded between January and December last year were lower than the 828 recorded for the same period in 2006.
He said it was the prudent measures initiated which made it possible for residents of Kumasi to enjoy the Christmas festivities “without recording any significant number of violent crimes.
“We are going to do our best to ensure that we live up to the confidence reposed in us by the good people of this region, especially the challenges of 2008 regarding the Ghana 2008 tournament and the general election to elect new leaders to steer the affairs of the country,” ACP Oteng said.
He commended the public and the media for their active support for the police in their fight against crime and urged them to sustain that cordial relationship to enhance adequate security in the region.
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