More Than 25 People In One Cell Inhumane – IGP ‘Cries’ Over Prison Congestion
Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), has expressed his dissatisfaction with the overcrowding in police cells around the country.
Most of the cells, he claims, should hold no more than 25 people, but they are crammed with more than 40.
As part of his usual rounds to police stations, the IGP said the police administration has noticed a “systemic issue and we want to address it.”
“What we want to say is that irrespective of whoever is involved, he is a suspect, he can be a criminal, he can be a convict, the humanity of that person is like ours and we cannot take the dignity of it out. We have to be very humanistic, because it can happen to anyone of us.”
“We need to push the agenda of ensuring that this cell transformation also takes place,” the IGP said.
“You put 25 people in that space and at times they get to 30 or 40, and they are breathless. what we want to say is that irrespective of whoever is involved, he is a suspect, he can be a criminal, he can be a convict [but] the humanity of that person is like ours and we cannot take the dignity of it out.”
“You have to be very humanistic because it can happen to anyone of us, so, we need to push the agenda in ensuring that this cell transformation also takes place…”
He, therefore, urged police officers to move away from the “old police mentality of defensiveness” and admit that many police cells are congested and people are “breathless” in there.
Source: Opemsuo.com/ Emmanuel Owusu Anti
