The Greater Accra Police Commander, DCOP Patrick Adusei Sarpong has disclosed that politicians trust police when in government because they have influence over the police and when they are out of government they lose the trust and become afraid and apprehensive.
DCOP Adusei Sarpong revealed this to the Emile Short Commission of Inquiry designated to investigate the Ayawaso West Wuogon by election violence which occurred on January 31, 2019.
During the investigation, the Greater Accra Commander when questioned by the Commission why politicians say they do not have trust in the police, he said:
”When they are in government they trust ,when they out of government they don’t trust because when they are in government they have certain influence over the police when out of government they become afraid and apprehensive that the powers they used when they were in power and used will be used against them”.
Responding to checking prevalence of Vigilante groups in the country, DCOP Adusei Sarpong stated:
”Politicians should do politics and allow security men to do security work, if politicians take themselves off security and allow security men to do their own work without any sort of hindrance then I think with time if its to be sustained everything will be well.”
He added that if vigilante groups are been disbanded by political groups it will solve the menace of violence during elections.
Also, he empowered the police to deal with vigilante groups and not to associate them with any party when the groups commit a crime ,he added the police should deal with them as any criminal .
DCOP Patrick Adusei Sarpong said the police officers belonging to the SWAT team are not from the Region. According to him, they are under the National Security he emphasized that police of the SWAT team have no dealings with the police service.
He categorically stated that there is no collaboration between the National Security and the Police Regional Command.