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THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF CID, COP Mr. Prosper Agblor has entreated the general public to refuse paying money to any police officer before signing a bail bond. The head of Police detective said police enquiry bail is free and urged the general public to report any police officer who demands money before granting bail to the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Unit (PIPS), the CID Administration or any of his superiors. He reminded all detectives to note that the Department is not a gold mine and that the fight against corruption is high on the agenda of the Police Administration. �So, officers who engage in negative practices such as demanding money before granting bail to suspects are warned to desist from that because the law will soon catch up with them�, he warned. COP Agblor gave the admonition during the opening ceremony of a two-week capacity building course for basic Detective Training Programme for Police officers drawn from Ashanti Regional CID aides. According to him, crime was becoming increasingly sophisticated with modernization which requires modern methods to fight it, and to do all these, it requires men who are well trained, motivated and willing to go an extra-mile in their duties. �As Police officers, we owe our nation a duty to prevent crime. However, where we are unable to do this; we are required to detect it�, he stressed. He indicated that the course was unique because it was the first time the basic detective training course is being held in a region other than Accra in spite of the budgetary constraints since such programmes, apart from being cost effective, will afford them the opportunity to train more detectives. The CID Chief further stated that the programme was designed for a target group that may not have benefited from any detective training in their career. The areas of study includes Identification methods, Report writing and Communication, Surveillance and searches, Docket building, CID forms, Arrest, Determination and Human rights and Crime scene management and selected topics in criminal law, law of evidence, criminal procedure, criminal investigations, crime scene management and emerging trend of crime to be abreast with the elements that constitute certain offences, among others. COP Agblor charged the participants to be alive to the fact that the Criminal Investigation Department is significantly supporting the Police Administration�s integrity initiatives. C/Supt. John Asare Naami, Ashanti Regional Crime Officer enumerated some of the challenges that affect the Department and revealed that in terms of intelligence gathering personnel need unmarked motor bikes, vehicles and communication equipment for that purpose in order to penetrate all the crime sites to gather information that will lead to the arrest of criminals. Mr. Naami said the crime intelligence and statistics office needs a computer, printer, stabilizer and fax machines to compile intelligence for smooth operations. He expressed the hope that the participants at the end of the course would be more equipped with the trend of crime and to be able to meet it with the necessary professionalism and capabilities, as it will be sufficiently refresh and sharpen their ability to deliver better as detectives. The Crime Officer underscored that training was bedrock of knowledge acquisition and the enhancement of the performance of every responsibility but noted that trained CID personnel that are in the service was woefully inadequate, as uniformed personnel have been attached to the CID to assist in that regard as AIDES, some of whom he said have been aides for close to eight years, hence the need to robe them into the main stream CID. Supt. expressed the hope that there will be increase in rate of prevention and detection, increased rate of apprehension and prosecution, increase in completion of investigated cases, increase in prosecuted cases, and reduction of cold cases and finally decreases in custodial detection in the Ashanti region.