Assembly members in the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly have criticized police in the Tamale metropolis about the way and manner personnel discharge their duties in combating crime.
The local lawmakers challenged the police for touting the success of their swoop to get rid of criminals in Tamale and called for more collaboration from the service.
Contributing to the presentation by the metropolitan police commander on crime rate in Tamale at the second ordinary meeting, the assembly members doubted the success of the exercise in the forest. Instead, the assembly observed, the numbers of criminal suspects in the forest has increased.
The assembly members also expressed their dissatisfaction with the police approach in dealing with criminals in their electoral areas and accused some police officers of alerting criminals, especially the wee smoking gangs, any time a swoop plan is about to be executed and urged the police to do self-assessment.
Some assembly members also accused personnel of exhibiting total ignorance when it comes to effecting arrest of suspects.
A suggestion was made to the police to direct their efforts towards addressing what they called unregulated sales of tramadol.
But, Superintendent Appiah gave the assurance that the police will collaborate to ensure sanity in the metropolis.
He hinted the police intention of revisiting the forest and the ghettos. The police lamented the pressure that normal mounts on them anytime they carry out such exercises.
He revealed that officers sometimes desert their offices for a few days after taking the hard decision to arrest criminals to avoid some opinion leaders in the society.
He urged the mayor not to be discouraged about the exercise. In his view, the exercise must be continue and pleaded with the assembly members to ensure that the exercise is sustained.
He explained that the police cannot issue bail to assembly members for criminal offenses but can only do so for minor offenses. He admitted that, some junior ranks may have leaked information to criminals but assured that, it will be dealt with.
On the sales of tramadol, Mr Appiah said there is an Operation going on to get rid of the drug from certain chemical shops. He mentioned transfer of personnel without replacement as one of the major challenges confronting his outfit.
According to him, 40 officers were transferred without replacements last year which has affected police strength.
The presiding member of the assembly, Mr. Abu Takoro assured the police of their support but called for effective cooperation to ensure security in the communities.
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