Separate Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau from Police Service – Lawyer

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Private legal practitioner, Justin Pawvra Terwaja has recommended the separation of the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau from the Ghana Police Service to enable it effectively check police indiscipline.

According to him, having an independent body to monitor the Police and their activities will help address some concerns of people with regards to reporting any injustice done to them by the Police.

Speaking on The Law on JoyNews, on Sunday, Mr. Terwaja said, “our Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau is part of the Police system, it is the IGP who appoints and also serves as head of that unit.

“So imagine someone was working with a colleague, they are very close and later he is posted to that unit, and he has to turn around and investigate his friend, it becomes a bit problematic,” he said.

Mr Terwaja said in other jurisdictions, this unit is not only a separate entity from the Service but it is also managed by ex-servicemen with clean records.

He stated that “they scrutinize the people that they employ. They make sure that it is as independent as possible to be an effective check to police the Police as the Police police the rest of us. In Ghana, we still have a long way to go.”

The legal practitioner said if this module is implemented in Ghana, there will be a very independent organization that would act as a check on the Police more effectively.

Mr. Terwaja added that in the meantime, there are other avenues that aggrieved persons could seek Police accountability. These include civil suits and reporting the matter to the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice.

“When there is human rights violation or administrative injustice, CHRAJ will investigate the matter by their system and justice will be given to you. But, I am not too sure how many people use the CHRAJ system to get Police misbehavior checked, ” he stated.