The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH regional “Programme to Build and Strengthen the Police Structures in Selected Partner Countries in Africa” (Police Programme), implemented on behalf of German Federal Foreign Office, supported a 10-day training workshop for the Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB) of the Ghana Police Service.
For the first time, the training workshop brought together officers from all four regional offices of PPSB to deepen their knowledge on investigation skills.
PPSB is the Unit within the Ghana Police Service that investigates citizen complaints on police misconduct.
At a ceremony to mark the closure of the training workshop, the Director-General of the PPSB, COP Mr. Vincent Redeemer Dedjoe, expressed his gratitude to the GIZ implemented Programme for supporting such a workshop.
PPSB had teamed up with the GPS Detective Training Academy to develop a course that covered practical investigation skills, like evidence gathering, report writing and conduct of interviews but also more fundamental aspects as ethics and human rights in investigations.
COP Dedjoe noted that this training will help in ensuring officers hold the required skills to effectively carry out their duties.
The Police Programme aims to strengthen the Ghana Police Service (GPS) in the areas of training system, citizen relations and accountability as part of GPS’s reform efforts – as outlined in their Transformation Programme.
In his remarks, the GIZ Country Component Manager for the Police Programme, Mr. Philipp Niehenke said, “In the Result Area Accountability and together with our partner PPSB and other involved police units, we strengthen the internal police complaints mechanism for cases of police misconduct. Participants who feel capable and motivated to now apply their acquired skills are one important building block to further improve the complaints management system and by this strengthen the trust of citizens in their police.”
At the end of the training workshop, all 30 participants from the regional offices of PPSB namely Accra, Kumai Takoradi and Ho, were presented with certificates of participation.