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In spite of the increased public presence of the police in recent times, the sense of security of Ghanaians has dropped significantly.

According to a survey conducted by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in 2015, majority of Ghanaians (68.9 per cent) feel “very safe” walking alone in their neighbourhood at night, but that number was less than the proportion of Ghanaians (74.3 per cent) who felt so in 2014.

On the other hand, the proportion of people who did not feel “very safe” increased from 23.7 per cent in 2014 to 30.3 per cent in 2015.

“Neighbourhood security was gradually becoming a major issue in the country despite the proportion of households who felt safe walking alone in the night in their neighbourhood in 2015 compared to 2014. There is the need for more security interventions,” the report recommended.

The IEA Socio-Economic and Governance Survey, which was conducted in November/ December 2015, was the third in the series of an annual research survey.

The survey involved a sample size of 1,500 respondents selected from all the 10 regions of Ghana on the balance of gender, age, geographical location and other demographic considerations.

Urban dwellers less safe

Article 21 of the 1992 Constitution guarantees freedom of movement except where such freedom is restricted by lawful detention.

The increasing physical presence of the police in public was expected to enhance the enjoyment of freedom of movement.

However, in spite of police visibility, community policing and police highway patrols, the sense of safety of Ghanaians reduced, a development that requires revision of strategy by the police.

The report indicated that more respondents in rural areas (74.1 per cent) felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhoods as compared to urban dwellers (63.3 per cent).

Theft and physical attack

The survey findings suggest incidence of theft, including robbery and burglary, was low, given the fact that majority of respondents (72.9 per cent) did not experience any theft in their household between November 2014 and November 2015.

Among those respondents, rural dwellers were higher (78.1 per cent) than urban dwellers (67.3 per cent), while more females (74 per cent) than males (71.2 per cent) said they had not experienced any incidence of theft in their household in the year under reference.

However, with almost three out of 10 people (27.1 per cent) to have such an experience, there cannot be a celebration of safety from theft.

In respect of physical attack, an overwhelming majority of respondents (94.3 per cent) said they never experienced physical attack on them or any member of their household between November 2014 and November 2015.

Reporting cases to police

Interestingly, only a few of the respondents (24.8 per cent) who experienced theft, physical attack and burglary reported the incidents to the police.

There was an increase in such unreported cases in 2015 (74.3 per cent), up from (71.4 per cent) in 2014.

The Eastern Region had the highest of such unreported cases (88.2 per cent), followed by the Volta Region (84.2 per cent) and the Brong Ahafo Region (78.6 per cent).

The report indicated that 74.3 per cent of respondents who suffered robbery, physical attack or burglary did not report to the police for various reasons.

Notable among the reasons are the lack of time to report crimes, waste of time because of repeated visits, non-availability of police station or personnel in the area, and the long distance to a police station.

There is the need for the government to urgently address these concerns through public sensitisation programmes in order to encourage people to report crimes to the police and, thereby, help to improve security in our communities.

Furthermore, the police must endeavour to simplify the procedures for reporting crime in order to encourage more people to do so. Taking such measures will go a long way to enhance safety in society.