IGP is not happy about congestion in police cells
He said, congestion is a systemic issue that needs to be addressed
He made these observations in one of his rounds
Dr George Akuffo Dampare, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, has expressed his displeasure over the congestion of some of the police cells in which suspects are kept.
According to him, the police hierarchy under his leadership noticed that most of the cells are congested and as an IGP, he wants to help address what he describes as a “systemic issue”.
In a viral video on social media, Dr Dampare visited a police station in one of his day-to-day rounds and asked the officer in charge that, “how many suspects are in the cell.”
The officer answered 25 suspects and he [Dr Dampare] asked if the place was congested.
The usual police officer being defensive of the service stated that the place is not congested and the IGP asked him if he will be comfortable to be in the cells for two days, but the officer said no.
The IGP later asked if there is a water closet, WC, and a shower in the cell for the suspects to either ease themselves or bath and the officer in charge noted that the washroom is in a good condition.
GhanaWeb brings you interaction between the IGP and the Police Officer in charge.
Dr Dampare: “how many people are in the cell?”
Officer: “25”
how big is that place for 25 people? imagine you are one of the 25, will you be comfortable? Is the place congested?
Officer: “No sir”
Dr Dampare: “It is not congested so, I should put you there for two days.”
Dr Dampare: “We didn’t come to talk about your place as if the problem is you. we have noticed a systemic issue and we want to address it, so, be frank with us and stop that bold police mentality of defensiveness, it is not going to help anyone.
“You put 25 people in that space and at times they get to 30 or 40, and they are breathless. what we want to say is that irrespective of whoever is involved, he is a suspect, he can be a criminal, he can be a convict [but] the humanity of that person is like ours and we cannot take the dignity of it out.
“You have to be very humanistic because it can happen to anyone of us, so, we need to push the agenda in ensuring that this cell transformation also takes place…”
Watch the video below: