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The refusal of victims and witnesses of crime to identify their attackers during identification parades tops the list of factors impeding the work of the police.

The Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Christian Tettey Yohuno, disclosed this to The Finder in an interview, and added that such victims and witnesses also refuse to testify in court against their attackers.

This, he said, usually happens in cases of armed robbery and other serious crimes such as murder, rape, and defilement.

He also mentioned that lawyers defending known notorious criminals, judges acquitting and discharging known criminals with technicalities, as well as lack of preparedness on the part of state attorneys have been identified as key factors frustrating the fight against crime by the police.

He said the police go through painstaking investigations and sometimes life-threatening operations to arrest some of these criminals, only for them to be freed by the judiciary due to the above-mentioned factors.

According to him, the situation was greatly hampering the activities of the police and lowering the morale of police personnel.

DCOP Yohuno expressed surprise that many victims and witnesses of crime just fail to co-operate with police to nail criminals.

He noted that even though victims and witnesses of crime are quick to lodge complaints to the police, many of them decline police request to attend identification parades to point out their attackers.

Additionally, he said when police go through painstaking investigations to establish a good case to commence prosecution, many victims and witnesses would just not attend court hearings to testify against the criminals.

DCOP Yohuno said in many cases, the judiciary increasingly frustrates the police by freeing suspected criminals in spite of incriminating evidence.

Another disturbing factor he alluded to was the lack of preparedness of state attorneys before going to court, which he said has resulted in lawyers and judges bullying such attorneys, resulting in the state attorneys losing many cases.

He told The Finder that cases being handled by female attorneys who get pregnant and proceed on maternity leave usually become dormant and judges sometimes release such people for want of prosecution.

The Accra Regional Police Commander was worried that some lawyers have made it their business to defend known notorious criminals, gaining freedom for such criminals on numerous occasions.

He explained that it is only when such lawyers or their family members become victims of crime that they change their ways and begin to support the police.

For example, Lawyer George Asumani, one of the few human rights lawyers, had resolved to defend the rights of every Ghanaian citizen no matter their crime because he believed that every person was innocent until proven guilty.

However, he openly declared at Accra Circuit Court that he had ceased from defending armed robbers for the rest of his career following attacks on his family by robbers.

 “I have vowed not to handle any robbery case again no matter the financial reward attached to the matter,” he said. 

He made the declaration during the hearing of an armed robbery case when an investigator was about to testify.

Mr Asumani told the court, presided over by Mr Francis Obiri, that he was withdrawing his services for such criminal cases because armed robbers had attacked his mother and sister in their respective homes.

Mr Asumani, who was emotional about the issue, said his relatives were attacked by robbers who were armed with machetes and other weapons.

DCOP Yohuno pledged the unflinching desire of the police to fight criminal activities, and appealed to the public to co-operate with the police to protect life and property.