Despite widespread reports of violent crimes and armed robbery, police have said claims of heightened insecurity in Ghana are untenable.
Director of Police Public Affairs, Sheilla Kessie Abayie-Buckman, has said although there have been worrying incidents of crime in recent months they are best described as security breaches and not insecurity.
“This is not just something we should just be using the word insecurity; for when you look at the bigger picture police are working, we are preventing incidences of crime from happening let us be assured that the breaches that have been occasioned we are working hard enough to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to book,†she said during a brief interview on news analysis programme Newsfile on Saturday.
Attacks this week in broad daylight by gun-wielding criminals on police-guarded spots and similar attacks since the start of this year have caused some experts to say insecurity is creeping into the Ghana social fabric.
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But speaking on the news analysis programme, Supt Abayie-Buckman said such experts are causing unnecessary fear and panic by describing the incidents as constituting insecurity.
“In the last few days, people have used the word insecurity, this is because of the privilege of having the media space, and that is causing more fear and panic. It is not a reality. The use of the word must be looked at,†she urged.
She said persons who comment in the media must acknowledge the progress the police service is making in securing Ghanaians in the face of resource challenges.
“The topography of crime within the sub-region gives credence to the fact that massive work is being done by the police and the security agencies in Ghana. And that is why and how the people of Ghana and the communities in Ghana are safe,†she said.
She said several preventive measures are being taken around the clock and across the country to prevent the incidences of crime.
“But when a crime like the ones that you have listed occur, we see it as a breach,†she stressed.