#Article (Archive)

The nationwide anti-crime education campaign

Dec 29, 2015, 10:03 AM

The Police have embarked on a very good drive of sensitizing the public on issues geared towards curbing crime in the country.

This new drive of community-based policing approaches to crime prevention, launched on 21 December this year at Tallinding Bantaba, would do a whole lot of good to crime prevention in the country.

It would arm the people with the knowledge, approaches and methodology of preventing crime - or nipping it in the bud where it is about to fully establish - in the community.

The Police have for long been conducting such exercises or campaigns, which fosters peace and security in the country.

And this time around the campaign was bankrolled by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) and Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSHFC).

These institutions must be roundly commended for their act of social concern and responsibility. They are actually not new in carrying out such interventions to meeting the socio-economic advancement of the nation.

They have been rendering support in various ways in various institutions and sectors of national development across the country, such as in health, education, housing and country planning, as well as in finances and the economy.

They should, therefore, be emulated by other institutions in doing more for the police and other public, state or private institutions to spur growth and peaceful co-existence of people in the country.

Exercises like community-based policing edification to stave off crimes in society are always helpful.

As the police public relations officer put it: “Increasing population means increasing demand on delivery of police service, hence the need for police-community partnership in the fight against crimes.”

The police and the public need regular training on anti-crime intelligence to be able to work collaboratively to fight crime in society, as no police force can really succeed in fighting against crime without the full support and collaboration of the public.

As President Barack Obama once said, society needs to understand thatour police officers put their lives on the line for us every single day. They’ve got a tough job to do to maintain public safety and hold accountable those who break the law. They, therefore, need the support of all and sundry.

“I am concerned for the security of our great Nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within.”

Douglas MacArthur