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Acting Director-General of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah has announced that the police administration, as part of its transformational agenda to ensure professionalism in criminal investigation, is in a steady movement toward a complete digitisation of criminal investigations in the country.

The initiative, when finally rolled out early next year, she stated, will see the CID use electronic means to take complaints, write statements and verify fingerprints; all entries in CID forms shall be digital, beginning with 26 pilot police stations in Accra and Tema, and the CID headquarters.

She hinted that already all CID forms have been digitised; the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) has been re-equipped, with new equipment installed; and fingerprints from 1957 have also been captured digitally and stored.

In addition, she stated that an FBI-certified equipment has been procured for use by the Criminal Data Services Bureau (CDSB).

This, she explains, means that fingerprint analysis, employment and verification reports would be done digitally according to international standards.

DCOP Addo-Danquah, who was giving a welcome address at the opening of a day’s workshop on effective investigations for about 200 crime officers in Accra, urged crime officers to sometimes move with their investigators to crime scenes to ascertain information at first hand, instead of always receiving briefings, which might be distorted.

As crime officers, she advised that due diligence must be their watch word in their supervisory roles before cases are put before court.

She said as crime officers, they must be proactive towards the fight against cybercrime, robbery, illegal mining, vigilantism, and gas and fuel explosions, among others.

The workshop was on the techniques for the conduct of effective crime investigation, being organised for about 200 crime officers across the country.

The workshop was also designed to equip participants with modern best practices in crime investigations to better place them ahead of any challenges. The decision to organise the workshop, therefore, was conceived following a recent assessment of the performance of investigators in the investigation of crimes.

Another very important reason for the workshop, she mentioned, was to introduce crime officers to the ongoing transformation agenda of the current police administration, with the view to psyching officers with what lies ahead with regard to crime investigations.

“It is time we upgrade ourselves to be in line with quality, efficient and effective skills that will enable to ensure that appropriate evidence is collected, analysed and presented as our contribution to making sure justice is served,” she stressed.

She assured the workshop will not only be the first of its kind in 2017, but also the first phase of series of workshops, seminars and training programmes outlined to ensure that crime officers are equipped with relevant skills and competencies in modern investigative functions in line with the vision of the Ghana Police Service, which is to become a world-class police.

In his opening address, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), David Asante-Apeatu, told participants that respect for human rights, especially that of suspects, is extremely important and non-negotiable, especially as the service is in the process of rebranding to be a world-class police service.

He, therefore, challenged crime officers to religiously be abreast with all provisions in Service Instructions number 174, which provides them with the best benchmarks in handling persons in custody and all the rights due them.