The Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Asumadu Okyere-Darko, the Acting Bono East Regional Police Commander has called for a healthy police-media relationship towards national development.
“The Police and the Media personnel must be seen working as family members providing care, love, and security for one another. By doing so, we will be able to promote a peaceful environment in the General Election”.
DCOP Okyere-Darko made the call on Tuesday when he addressed the opening session of a day’s workshop on crime reporting, organized for media practitioners at Techiman in the Bono East Region by the Police.
He said the police were focused and determined to deepen their existing media relationship because of the enormous role the media played in building a healthy society. “Modern policing required a shared and collective responsibility, and the police, together with the media, must work hand in hand,” he said.
DCOP Okyere-Darko explained that the media training was essential not only to build the capacity of practitioners but also to deepen the police-media relationship for mutual benefit, saying, the 1992 constitution required from the two institutions to protect lives and properties.
He noted with concern about the poor police-media relationship in recent times and hoped that the two institutions would bury their differences and see each other as key stakeholders towards nation building.
DCOP Okyere-Darko called on the media to guard against sensationalism and tendencies that had the potential to plunge the nation into chaos before, during, and after the general election.
Mr. Laary Paa Kwesi Moses, the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association advised the media to be circumspect in their reportage by cross-checking their facts before going to the press.
