Stealing, assault top records at Central East Regional Police Command
Ghana’s newest police regional command; Central East, recorded a total of 1,977 criminal cases between August 10 and December 31 last year, DCOP Kwadwo Otchere Boapeah, the Regional Commander, has disclosed.
Stealing and assault alone formed 48.7 per cent of the records with respective figures of 483 and 480 cases within the period.
Trespassing, threat of harm and defrauding by false pretenses came third, fourth and fifth with 219, 169 and 168, respectively, in the Command’s first ever end-of-year report.
The rest are threat of death; 69, robbery; 19, defilement; four, murder; three, and one case of kidnapping.
Disclosing some details of the records to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview, DCOP Boapeah said 628 of the cases were sent to court with 295 successful convictions and 25 acquittals, while the rest are pending.
“308 are still under trial and 496 of them are under investigations,” he said.
The Central East Regional Police Command was carved out of the Central Regional Command, last year, with two divisions – the Kasoa Police Divisional Command and the Millennium City Police Divisional Command.
The region is the first to be created in 55 years and is part of measures by the Ghana Police Service to strengthen its operations across the country.
The move also aimed at combating crime in the sprawling Kasoa Township, noted for its notoriety in crime over the years.
The new command brings to 18 the total of police regions in the country – the Greater Accra and Central regions have two each with the rest of the 14 regions having one each.
DCOP Boapeah has Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr Oduro Amaning as his deputy, with Chief Inspector Theophilus Hlomanu as the Head of Operations Unit.
The Regional Commander said the creation of the command had helped reduce crime in Kasoa and adjoining communities by 50 per cent.
“Kasoa for some time now has gained notoriety due to the activities of land guards and other related crimes. We carried out swoops on drinking bars, pubs and households on intelligence gathering,” he said.
“I can say with confidence that we have reduced criminal activities by 50 per cent. So, this will continue unabated and we are still by police action, reducing the crime rate.”
Source: GNA