Taking 2 police robbery suspects to hideout bad judgment – Security expert

President of the Institute of Security Disaster and Emergency Studies has bemoaned the decision of the Ghana Police Service to take the two police bullion van suspect robbers to a field operation that got them killed.

Dr Ishmael Norman said that the two suspects could have communicated with the police team heading to the hideout or could have simply given the location of the hideout since it was an intelligence-led field operation.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews, monitored by GhanaWeb, Dr Norman said that “It just doesn’t make sense, no matter how hard you try to be charitable to the police, it just doesn’t make sense.

“… a lot of mistakes were done in the whole approach. Taking a key witness to basically to the hideout of other criminals or the gang was a poor judgment on the side of the police.

“In today’s communication world you don’t have to carry a witness to a spot where the crime took place to get evidence. They could have been on the radio, they could have been on a phone and directed the team that was going to the place.”

Meanwhile, the Director-General of Police Public Affairs, DCOP Kwesi Ofori, has said that the two suspect policemen were killed as they were leading the police to the hideout of the suspected criminal gang.

“An intelligence-led field operation took off and in the process, there was heavy exchange of fire and the two sustained gunshot injuries and were taken to the police hospital in Accra but they later passed on,” Mr Kwesi Ofori said while providing clarification in a radio interview.

He further explained “So let us understand this, that in police operations, there are high risks in nature and at the time the raid took place, it was very serious and well-targeted operation. Even as I speak to you, we’ve arrested four policemen, one other civilian and they will be put before court.”