CRIMINAL CASES REDUCE IN ASHANTI REGION (PAGE 32, FEB 20, 2010)

From George Ernest Asare, Kumasi.

Defilement and rape-related cases, as well as armed robbery, decreased slightly in the Ashanti Region last year.
Statistics on crime cases in the Ashanti Region compiled by the police indicated that defilement cases recorded in 2009 were 321 as against 325 recorded in 2008 while rape-related cases recorded reduced to 91 as against 108.
The Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Chief Inspector, Muhammad Tanko, who briefed The Mirror on the crime statistics in the region, said in 2008 as many as 60 people were murdered as against 47 last year and narcotic offences were 53 as against 87 in 2008.
He explained that while six cocaine cases were recorded in 2009, eight were recorded in 2008 with marijuana recording 47 as against 79 cases during the review period.
Expressing concern about the number of defilement cases recorded in the region in 2009, Chief Inspector Tanko said it was time parents became vigilant on the movement of their daughters and also educated the children for them to appreciate the modus operandi of those who defiled children.
He pointed out that investigations conducted by the police on defilement cases proved that family friends and close associates, such as teachers, neighbours, church members, tenants and people who were very close to victims, “are the same people who commit defilement-related crimes”.
He said apart from buying gifts for their victims to entice them, they also established very close ties and pounced on them when least expected.
He said it was only when parents appreciated the need to demystify sex education and constantly converse with their daughters on the spate of defilement and its consequences that the needed awareness would be created to prevent young females from falling prey to such miscreants.
On robbery, he said collaborative efforts with the public in combating the menace had succeeded in minimising the rate of robbery in the Kumasi metropolis.
He said the quest by the police to reward people who provided sensitive information leading to the arrest of criminals had contributed to the reduction of crime rate in the metropolis.
He said one of the main challenges of the police in fighting armed robbery was the nature of roads in some parts of the metropolis and on its outskirts, saying that “criminals operate on the peripheries of the metropolis where access roads are deplorable and the address given also inaccurate, making it very difficult to make inroads when cases are reported”.
Chief Inspector Tanko said with poor lighting system in parts of the metropolis, it was sometimes difficult for the police patrol team to combat armed robbers in a more effective and efficient manner.
He said inadequate vehicles also made it difficult for them to respond to distress calls, and therefore appealed to the public to support the police with vehicles to enhance their operations.