Restructuring of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service has begun with the selection of police personnel who will be retrained in motor traffic duties.
In view of that, more than 300 police personnel were registered to serve in the department using criteria set by the police administration last Saturday at the Police Depot in Accra.
The Director General of the MTTD, DCOP Maxwell Atingani, in an address, said they have started the pilot programme in Accra and would be replicated in other regions of Ghana.
Personnel, who want to join MTTD, including those already in that department, will have to register to be reconsidered after which a special training will be given to them in traffic duties.
He said personnel, who would be selected, would go through training and interviewing before deployment.
“The image of the Police Service and for that matter the MTTD is sinking which needs strategic measures to address to win the confidence of the public and in so doing, the bad nuts in the MTTD will have to be weeded out,” he added.
The MTTD is the eye of the Police Service since they are always in contact with the public and anything negatively that they do on our roads affects the service, he averred.
Explaining further, he asserted that “the department wants personnel on traffic duties to be professional, devoid of any activities that would tarnish the image of the Service.”
Touching on indiscipline on our roads, the Director-General of MTTD stated that the new exercise will distinguish the MTTD personnel from other police officers who are not from MTTD but conduct motor checks on our roads just to extort money from drivers.
“Registered personnel at the department would be trained by resource persons such as retired police personnel and lawyers during the processes to ensure that the MTTD boosts their self-confidence.
“We want personnel who would soon be deployed to be professional at all times, but those who do not work within the confines of the law would be dealt with,” he added.
DCOP Maxwell Atingani gave assurance that there would be no interference at MTTD by any senior officer, adding that old personnel who have the desire to be in the department must go through the process before deployment.
He urged personnel to enforce the laws on our roads and arraign offenders for court to help change attitude and perception of the public.
The police chief assured the public that his outfit would continuously ensure the protection of lives and properties at all times.
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