He explained that offenders who are arrested by the police mostly don’t want to be subjected to the laws of the land, so they are the first to offer bribes to the arresting officers to get off the hook.
“The members of the public too must be blamed for their accusation that they are making. They are also equally guilty, because if you do not give the Police money, he cannot take it from your pocket. If you commit an offense and the Police wants to charge you for court, you have to allow yourself to go through the due process.
“At times, even when you go to court, the offense may not attract a serious fine. But when you tempt the Police with money, when you do not want to go to court, then you are giving an unscrupulous Police chance to demand any amount of money, because you are not willing to allow yourself to go to court,” DCOP Kojo Antwi Tabi said, as quoted by myjoyonline.com.
He was, however, quick to add that the service continues to orient police officers against bribery and corruption, saying culpable officers are always dealt with severely to deter others.
“We have been talking to them, we have been training them, and from time to time, those who are offenders, that is, the policemen who are found to have collected money or to have extorted money or done something unlawfully, we normally punish them or dismiss them.”
DCOP Kojo Antwi Tabi was speaking in reaction to separate surveys conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service, CHRAJ, and the Centre for Democratic Development.
The two surveys ranked the Ghana Police Service as the most corrupt public institution.
The findings of the latest Afrobarometer survey, which was carried out by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD), indicate that 65% of Ghanaians perceive the Ghana Police Service as the most corrupt institution, while 55% rank the presidency as corrupt.
