Veep Advocates Street Naming To Combat Crime

Vice-President John Mahama has underscored the importance of street naming culture in the country, saying it is necessary to help the security agencies in combating crime.

He said the absence of a proper street naming system was making it difficult for the police to respond swiftly to distress calls as they found it difficult to locate crime scenes.

Mr. Mahama made the call when a delegation from Creative Consult, an organisation that engages in the production of TV programmes on crime fighting, called on him at the Castle yesterday, to present copies of their productions to him.

Vice-President Mahama gave the assurance that the Ministry of Local Government would come up with a programme by the end of the year to ensure that every area has street naming and house numbers to help the police in locating exact areas of an incident.

He stressed the need for education programmes that would help the citizenry to be security conscious, noting that Ghanaians were not conscoius about their security.

The Vice-President commended the joint Police/Military patrol teams for helping to reduce the incidence of armed robbery in the country, particularly, their swift response to crime scenes.

He assured that the government would continue to equip the security agencies adequately to perform their duties, especially tools that would enhance their mobility.

Mr. Mahama commended Creative Consult for their incisive TV programmes, noting that it was a programme that affected the security of all. He, therefore, urged corporate Ghana to support their activities.

Andy Nana Opoku, Managing Director of the firm said the programme came about as a result of the need to spear head the agenda of curbing crime by liaising with the police.

He said the spate of crime in society was such that the government alone could not handle it, "We therefore want to create a platform for the police to engage with the public by way of providing information in fighting crime," he said.

Mr Opoku said some of the programmes run on GTV bordered on human trafficking, child traffciking, impact of community policing. He asked for support from government in sustainig the programme as it was constrained financially.

DSP Kwesi Ofori, Director of the Police Public Relations Directorate at the Police Service Headquarters said the organisation's programme had contributed immensely to fighting crime in the country. He said the police looked forward in collaborating more with the firm in the near future.
He appealed for support from corporate organizations and individuals to keep the programme running, assuring the vice-president of the police administration commitment to combating crime.