Abstract
The Police Service is an institution which is long over due for rebranding and should be transformed to restore a better public image; this is as a result of the negative reports that have been highlighted in relation to the service. This study assesses the operations of the Ghana Police Service using Cantonments Police Station as a case study. From the study it was concluded that very few Police Officers had educated themselves to the tertiary level leaving majority of them at the Middle school level and Senior High School Level.
Other findings include some of the hindrances to operations, of Police Officers. They include non-availability of vehicles which makes mobility very difficult, lack of logistics, poor infrastructure and lack of modern equipments, discrimination, lack of motivation and poor incentives, lack of manpower and limited accommodation. Good supervision, cooperation from the public and logistics were identified as factors that helped to promote their duties efficiently. Most of the failures of the police officers were their inability to apprehend and arrest some notorious criminals. Other failures were their inability to show quick response to calls from the public.
Some of the recommendations that were made were to provide training for Police Officers as a result of the poor educational background. The organisational structure of the firm should be decentralised to provide Police officers decision making power, this is because most of operations under the Cantonments Police Station is centralized, which results in Police top officials exercising most of the direct control over every organizational
component. Low level officers in Cantonments Police Station should also be
given the decision making power to motivate them to work harder toward predefined performance standards set inside a logical framework.
Table of Contents
Certification………………………………………………………………………………….. i
Declaration………………………………………………………………………………….. ii
Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………… iii
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………… iv
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………….. v
Abbreviations………………………………………………………………………………. vi
Chapter One……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1
Problem Statement……………………………………………………………………………….. 2
Objectives……………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
Research Questions……………………………………………………………………………… 3
Significance of the Study……………………………………………………………………. 4
Limitations…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5
Chapter Organization……………………………………………………………. 6
Chapter Two…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
Theoretical Framework…………………………………………………………………………. 7
Conceptual Framework……………………………………………………………………… 26
Chapter Three……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 27
Methodology……………………………………………………………………………………….. 27
Study Design……………………………………………………………………. 29
Target Population………………………………………………………………. 31
Sampling Technique…………………………………………………………………………… 32
Data Sources……………………………………………………………………………………….. 33
Research Instruments………………………………………………………………………… 34
Analytical tools…………………………………………………………………………………… 35
Chapter Four………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 36
Findings……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 36
Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………… 37
Chapter Five………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 54
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………… 54
Recommendations………………………………………………………………………………. 55
References…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 60
Appendix……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 63
Abbreviations
CID – Criminal Investigations Department
MTTU- Motor and Traffic, Transport Unit SSR- Security Sector Reform
GPS – Ghana Police Service CGAR – Crisis Asia Group Report PRR- Pay and Rank Reform
IPCB- International Police Coordination Board
OSCE -Organization for Security and Co- operation in Europe Report
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
- Background to the study
The Ghana Police Service (GPS) is a major agent in ensuring social order and enforcement of law in Ghana, but has been perceived as a poorly performing organisation. It has many divisions and units and the Inspector General of Police heads the organisation. The law enforcement duty of the Police involves increasing demand for governance and to ensure the safety of the citizens. The Police Service in Ghana is defined and empowered by the Police Service Act 1970 (Act 350), this Act is one of the most significant pieces of legislation governing the Ghana Police Service (GPS), delineating into details several aspects of its administrative control. The Act sets out the functions of the police organisation as follows: It shall be the duty of the Police Service to prevent and detect crime, to apprehend offenders, and to maintain public order and the safety of persons and property.
In addition, this organization is also tasked to collaborate with the public to combat crime, paying special attention to domestic violence amongst women etc. Over the years, it has been observed that increases in criminal activities and lack of professionalism have impeded the quality of service in the Ghana Police Service (Osei 2008). The poor operations of the Police Service have led to several debates and reforms. The need for change and reform was recognized since 1951 and a number of Government sponsored commissions have sat and produced reports on the ways that policing should change in Ghana. These reports include: Young Commission Report (1951), Boye Committee Report (1971), Commission of Inquiry into
Promotions within the Police Force Report (1986), Report of the Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary on the Assessment of the Police Service, the Ryan Report 1992 amongst the lot (Human Rights Initiative 2007). Unfortunately, these reports have for the most part gathered dust on the government’s shelves (Human Rights Initiative 2007).
The corporate image of the Police Service in Ghana remains bad despite the efforts to enhance the service. Some of the ways that have been adopted by the government to improve the service is the recent introduction of the single spine salary structure, provision of vehicles to ensure mobility etc. The poor operations system of the Police has been attributed to the ill conceived activities of some of the Police Officers, mostly influenced by greed and materialism, ultimately negating all the success chalked by the service. Other attributes used to describe the Police Service in Ghana and countries at large are corrupt administrative practices in the Service such as pilfering, misuse of vehicles and fraudulent deals. Mostly people attribute the problem to inadequate office and staff accommodation, weak salary structure lack of vehicles and inadequate number of personnel as some of the command’s problems.
Problem Statement
The problem existing currently within the GPS is indulgence in bribery and corruption, poor quality in operations, no response or delay in response to crime, lack of professionalism. Literature suggests that the factors causing these are poor salary structure, poor educational background of police officers, and the use of outmoded equipments for service delivery and poor
logistics, lack of incentives (Osei 2008). It is also perceived that the Police
Force are not aware of the code of conduct, hence this research was conducted to study their operations using Cantonments. The desired solution for the Police service is to have a force capable of combating crime, an efficient police force police service which discharges its duties as expected. This research is targeted at assessing the operations of Police Officers in Ghana; using Cantonments Police Station as a case study. The research is also targeted at rebranding the service by providing recommendations to become a great institution capable of enforcing law and order.
Objectives
- Main Objectives
- To assess the operations of Police Officers at the Cantonments Police Station.
Specific Objectives
- To examine the duties of the Police
- To discuss factors that hinder their operations
- To ascertain ways of rebranding the Cantonments Police Station to improve their operations.
Research Questions
- 1 Main question
- How do the Police go about their basic operations at the Cantonments Police Station?
Other questions:
- What duties do the Police perform and how do they execute them?
- What hindrances do the Police encounter in their operations?
- How will the Police rebrand itself to improve their operations?
Significance of the study
Operations Management is a fundamental building block for total service delivery in organisations today. A significance of the study is that it would restore a better public image. This research would provide evidence to the Cantonments Police Station to determine progress towards specific defined organizational objectives. The study is also an important way for the Police service to learn. Learning in the sense that they would evaluate corporate performance and identify what works for them and what does not. This makes it easier for the service to be able to learn lessons about its poor operations. Another reason why the study is relevant is that it identified possible solutions for improvements on their service delivery.
The study would create an opportunity for the Police Service to know their strengths and weaknesses, making it possible for them to plan corrective strategies. Another significance of this research is to identify and track progress against organizational goals. It would enable the Ghana Police Service (GPS) to compare performance against both internal and external standards. This means that the Police service would be able to compare their standards to global standards to know how they are faring. This research would also serve as literature review for the other researchers on this topic in the future.
