Police arrest private security personnel over uniforms

The police have arrested security personnel from eight private security companies in Accra for failing to comply with the directive to use approved uniforms.

The suspects are from the First Watch Security Service, OMEGA Security Service, Stallion Tiger Security, Escort Security Service, WESTEC Security, GUO Security, Epsilon Security and the GES Security.

The exercise, which was organised by the Private Operations Security Directorate (POSD) of the Ghana Police Service led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kwara Dompre, was to ensure full compliance of the law which established the Private Security Organisations(PSOs) to sanitise the industry.

ASP Dompre said most of the private security companies were using uniforms which were virtually the same as the uniforms of the country’s security agencies.

To that end, he said, the police administration held a meeting with the leadership of the PSOs to ensure that uniforms their personnel wore did not bear any semblance to those of the police.

Approved uniforms

ASP Dompre said although the law stated clearly that any uniform, cap, badge, accoutrements or other identification mark worn by any member of a private security company had to be approved by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), a number of the PSOs had flouted this rule.

He stressed that if the violations were not checked, criminals could take advantage of the situation and engage in crimes using the unprescribed uniforms.

Explaining further, he said existing companies were given a one-year transition period to conveniently phase out their existing uniforms and introduce the newly approved ones but while some companies complied, majority of them had remained adamant to the new directive.

ASP Dompre, therefore, called on newly registered private security companies to use any of the three approved uniforms but asked that they must first submit their uniforms to the police headquarters for approval.

He said those arrested would be investigated to know whether they operated with valid licences or not, after which they would be put before court for the law to take its course.

Background

The emergence of Private Security Organisations (PSOs) in the country about two-and-a-half decades ago has complemented the work of the Ghana Police Service.

Last year, the Ghana Police Service approved three sets of uniforms to be used as official uniforms by all PSOs in the country, a move intended to make the contribution of PSOs towards internal security more meaningful.

The exercise, which has started in Accra, will be replicated in all the regions to ensure compliance with the law.

Source: Graphic.com.gh