Suicides and Personnel killings: Police needs Psychology Unit to manage situation

Executive Director of Platform for Peace and Security Africa, Mr. Abass Osabutey, has suggested for an establishment of a Psychology Unit under the Ghana Police administration to help manage the rising rate of suicide and killing of personnel in the Police Service.

According to the security expert, the trend of suicides and killings that has hit the service in recent times needs an immediate attention and must be reversed by adapting to periodic counseling to the personnel in the management of the crisis.

Mr. Osabutey made the suggestion in an interview on Otec FM’s morning shows ‘Nyansapo’, hosted by Captain Koda on Wednesday, August 21, 2019, when he also called for a well-resourced unit to meet current trend of security practice.

The Ghana Police administration in recent times have witnessed murder and alleged suicide of three officers namely the late General Corporal Agatha Nana Nabin who died in the Northern region, the late Corporal Bernard Antwi whose incident happened at Dome Junction near Manso Abodom in the Amansie West District of Ashanti and Lance Corporal Alassan Asare who was also found dead at post while manning a fuel station at Akyem Swedru in the Eastern Region.

This, according to Mr. Abass Osabutey, believed the Psychology unit if established, would offer counseling to the personnel during and after service training to help reduce the deaths of serving officers.

Mr. Abass Osabutey who urged policy makers to stop claiming that Ghanaians are peace loving people noted that the paradigm has changed in recent times and the people must begin to be educated on security issues.

He observed,” they say Ghanaians are peace loving people yet Police Officers are being killed, Journalists are murdered, chiefs are murdered and a whole lot of criminalities are rife in our society. It is time such notion that Ghanaians are peace loving people was corrected to make every Ghanaian aware of the reality.”

He however decried joblessness among the educated youths and impunity on our laws as the major contributing factors for the rising insecurity in our society adding that, only 30% of the cases sent to the courts go through proper legal process, a situation he believes is an affront to judicial system in the country.

Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com/Asante-Yeboah Benedict