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The Union of Private Security Employees, Ghana (UPSEG), on Thursday pledged an unflagging support to the Commissioner of Police (COP) John Kudalor for his appointment as Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Ghana.

A statement signed by Nana Kofi Adu II, UPSEG General Secretary to the Ghana News Agency in Accra noted: “We have worked closely in the past with COP Kudalor and appreciate his high sense of professionalism and capabilities.

“We are confident that the Acting IGP has the technical, professional and modern policing inclinations to move the Ghana Police to the next stage”.

UPSEG however urged the new IGP to use his vast experience to transform the Ghana Police from Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Counter Intelligence; and Search and Rescue.

The UPSEG noted that the Ghana Police had been operating within the ambit of Command and Communication but “we need to move beyond and ensure that all Regional and District Commands are connected to a common data base.

“We must skill up our counter intelligence capabilities, equipped and train officers to operating with the sense of modern policing”.

The statement also urged the new IGP to facilitate the establishment of a Committee to oversee the operations of private security organizations in the country.

UPSEG noted that currently there are over 1,000 private security organisations in the country some with questionable leadership, strange operational addresses and mysterious training module; “this is a security threats”.

The statement also tasked COP Kudalor to look at the operations of landguards; “either we eliminate their existence or legalize their operations within the ambit of the law”.

The statement said policing is far more than law enforcement, therefore understanding the changes in society can affect policing’s vital role to provide service to the people today.

The UPSEG statement stressed that citizen’s expectations are rising around crime reporting, emergency response effectiveness, citizen care, public safety and public involvement in policing.

“Citizens expect to play a part in police services and are looking for more focused policing that mirrors the customer centric approach they experience in their interactions with private sector organizations,” the statement said.

UPSEG reminded the new IGP that increasingly, criminality is organized, global, digital, and operating across complex networks…“Criminals can be flexible and nimble in a way that police services cannot and they are often equipped with the latest technologies”.

UPSEG therefore appealed to the IGP to ensure that the Police services embraced a range of contact channels that enable interaction with citizens in new, dynamic, personalized and cost effective ways. “Citizen engagement should be online, social as well as face-to-face, and underpinned by trust.

“Police investigations rely on accurate and timely information; officers need to be empowered with real-time access to information that is presented in an intuitive, interactive and predictive way to achieve operational benefits and fiscal savings”.

“New technologies can help lower the cost of operating police services and deliver speed and efficiency gains to address future demands.

Police forces need to cooperate, nationally and internationally, with each other and with justice organizations, as well as public, private and voluntary sector organizations and proactively manage change.

Police forces must equip police leaders to manage and deliver change effectively now and into the future—fostering a climate of change acceptance and readiness throughout the organization and preparing officers for the evolving nature of the environment in which they operate is vital.

UPSEG said today’s police forces need to deliver a more holistic, “joined-up” service to the public to meet both current and future challenges.

Adopting an integrated, partnership approach that empowers and enables frontline officers can lead to more informed and productive interactions that engage and serve citizens and result in better policing outcomes.

UPSEG also appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to confirm COP Kudalor within the shortest time “as in security operations it is risky for the high command to operate under acting capacity for a long time, it undermines authority”.