Police Service to recruit only first degree holders – IGP

The Ghana Police Service is to begin recruiting people with first degree from various universities in the country, instead of the current minimum requirement of Senior High School qualifications.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante-Apeatu, who announced this said the measure forms part of police reforms and also recruit people with 'high integrity' into the service.

Currently, the minimum requirement for entering the Police Service is a West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) certificate but the IGP is sure that the service will witness a 'huge change' if the minimum educational standards are raised.

The image of the Ghana Police Service has been dented by some recalcitrant ones indulged in numerous unprofessional conducts across the country.

Notable among them is in Accra, where a Lance Corporal Godzi Frederick Amanor (aka Skalla), who has been remanded by an Accra Circuit Court for brutalizing a female customer of the Shiashie branch of the Midlands Savings and Loans in Accra, Patience Osafo.

The Police in Ashanti Region also killed the seven men during an operation to clamp down on robberies in Manso, a town in the Region recently.

However, less than 24 hours after the incident, close friends and family of the deceased came forward to say there may have been a case of mistaken identities.

In the Eastern Region, a policeman guarding a bullion van mistakenly shot and killed the driver of the van he was escorting from Koforidua to Akosombo in the Eastern Region.

The incident happened at Odumase Manyo Kponyo, a suburb of Manya Krobo.

In the Western Region, the District Police Commander for Akontombra in the Western Region, ASP Dickson Obeng, prescribed 36 lashes as a corrective measure for a 14-year-old class 6 pupil, Stanley Antwi of the St. James Anglican Primary at Akontombra.

In photos making rounds on social media, Stanley is seen with marks of the physical assault at his back.

Speaking in an interview with Accra based Joy FM on Thursday which was monitored by PrimeNewsGhana, the IGP said “the police must recruit people with first degree”.

He said “if we recruit people with first degrees, there is defiantly going to be a huge change in the service”.

“If we raise the bar high…it will help us as a service”, he added.

The IGP said "we've been talking about it, it didn't use to be SHS (Senior High School) some time ago JHS (Junior High School) but I think it will be proper for us to keep raising the bar higher".

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