The Upper West Regional Police Command recorded 170 criminal cases during the first quarter of the year. This is 15 more than the 155 offences recorded in the same period last year.
Stealing, robbery and assault cases topped the list of offences committed in the region with the Wa municipality recording the highest number of cases. The Sissala East and West districts had the least cases.
The U/W Regional Crime Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Daniel Kwantwi, who indicated this in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said there were 75 robberies, 42 assault cases, 10 fraud cases and four murders.
The rest are a defilement case, three rape cases, three attempted murders, 11 abductions and seven damages to property.
According to him, all the suspects in the cases had either been convicted or their cases were pending in court.
Support
On sexual and domestic violence, the officer advised the public to go beyond the condemnation of such behaviours and rather support the police to bring the perpetrators to book. According to statistics, most female victims of sexual assault in the region were between the ages of 10 and 15 so the situation had compelled some of them to drop out of school.
"Rape and violence rob women and girls of their full potential and causes untold hardship to families as it impedes socio-economic development," he stated.
DSP Kwantwi, therefore, entreated parents and guardians to always report such cases promptly to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the police service for investigations and subsequent prosecution of the perpetrators instead of settling the cases at home.
He attributed child abuse-related cases in the region to the breakdown of the extended family system.
Commendation
Meanwhile, DSP Kwantwi has commended traditional rulers, opinion leaders and religious bodies in the region for supporting the law enforcement agencies to sustain the peace prevailing in the area.
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