There has been a steady increase in the number of extrajudicial killings by the police service in recent times.
From media reports, the death of such innocent citizens, would not have occurred, but for the resort to use of excessive force and intimidation of the victims by the police.
One of such pathetic incidents, among several others, occurred in the northern regional capital, Tamale, a fortnight ago.
According to media reports, on Sunday, February 13, police shot into an unregistered vehicle after the occupants allegedly refused a police stop.
The unprovoked incident led to the shooting to death of 18-year-old Abdul Hakim Yakubu.
The attitude of the average police man, in our opinion, is appalling. If he is not drunk while on duty, he is openly collecting bribe from hapless citizens who oblige him.
Many people have argued about the caliber of people recruited into the service in recent times.
Every political party in power, recruits its members into the service and it is becoming obvious that, most of them don’t have the passion, empathy or are ill-prepared for the job.
The most painful of all to us as a newspaper, is the unpardonable defence or flimsy excuses given by such erring officers and their superiors even when such incidents happen.
The killing of innocent Ghanaians has to stop. We put guns in their hands to protect us against criminals not to use it to kill us.
As a newspaper, we call on the Inspector General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare, whose officers shot innocent civilians to look at their operational processes, including recruitment, training and remuneration to identify the root causes of such behaviors.
The police service must also always carry out thorough background checks on their new recruits to weed out those who might have tendencies that will drag the name of the service into disrepute. .
Finally, the officers who were involved in the shooting should not be shielded, but must be prosecuted to send the right message to others that such unprofessional behaviour will not be condoned.
