One hundred and forty three senior police officers have been trained in effective communication skills aimed at improving police-public relations in the country.
The one week training, which was under the auspices of the Police Public Affairs Directorate (PAD), was in collaboration with Accountability, Rule of Law and Anti Corruption Programme (ARAP).
The acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr James Oppong-Boanuh, in a speech read on his behalf by the Director-General of Legal and Prosecution, Commissioner of Police (COP) Prosper Kwame Agblor, at the closing ceremony in Accra yesterday said, the course was geared towards building the capacity of the officers.
The IGP said the training was an aspect of public education and communication strategy developed for the Police Service.
“The course covers very important aspects of operational policing, such as promoting the right image, responding to the needs of citizens, enaging with the local community, working with the media and solving local security problems and campaign planning through the use of effective and ethical communication,” he added.
He said ethical communication had been identified as a key tool in building good police-public relations, trust, and promote accountability and transparency.
Mr Oppong-Boanuh commended the European Union and the ARAP for the support, and appealed for more support to enable the police to expand the communication programme across the Service.
The Director-General of PAD, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) David Senanu Eklu, said communication was very crucial in every institution, adding that, the programme, the first of its kind would help improve police communication with the public.
Being part of the Ghana Police Service communication strategy, the training involved topics like police image, professionalism, ethical communication and dealing with the media, among others.
The team leader of ARAP, Ms Ana Sanchez Garcia, in her remarks said, ARAP had been collaborating with the Ghana Police Service since 2016 to enhance professionalism in the service.
She said it was important for informed and educated citizens to help identify crimes, and be a critical ally to the police, so that accountability and rule of law could be achieved.
BY ANITA NYARKO-YIRENKYI
N/B: PHOTO POLICE COURSE/SAMBA/PHOTO BACK UP 3/10/2019
