Dubbed: "The Motorbike Patrols for Neighbourhood Safety", the flagship programme of the Ghana Police Service, forms part of their coordinated transformation agenda of tackling crimes.

In this regard, a 59 man squad drawn from the various units of the Service had undergone a two week refresher defensive riding and crime combat training.

The beneficiaries of the training included one Chief Inspector, four Inspectors and 44 officers of other ranks in the Service, were trained by the Police Counter Terrorism Unit of the Ghana Police Service in Pwaleugu.

Among the training they received were;  physical endurance, weapon handling while on the motorbike, weapon and suspect to deal with threats when in operation, handcuffing and human rights.

Others were; Vehicle and suspect search, musketry to build them in areas of handling AK47, how to fire whiles on the motorbike as well as cover and consument.  Speaking at the launch in Accra on Tuesday, Mr David Asante Apeatu, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), cautioned criminal elements in the society, especially those who were in the habit of using motorbikes to commit crimes to desist.

He said: "The few of you cannot take all of us hostage. "This new squad supported by other operation teams are poised and will not be kind with you when you are caught."

He observed that, the advent usage of motorbikes in perpetuating violent crime pushed the Police Administration towards the creation of this special squad who had been trained with the capacity to respond adequately and bring to book such social miscreants who think they can be smarter on motorbikes.   

"This is the first batch and many more are being screened to beef up. The intention of the Police Administration is to replicate this squad in all 11 police regions," he said.  According to the IGP, the Police Administration had taken a serious view of reckless attacks on Police Officers as well as properties of the state by some criminal elements, adding that "The Police Administration will deal ruthlessly with those miscreants, and I use this forum to severely caution them."

On the expansion of the role of the police, Mr Apeatu called for a better social support from all as security is a shared responsibility. He noted that the success of the police fight against crime and the promotion of peaceful neighbourhoods was therefore a caveat for businesses to boom, investment to grow, leading to national development.

He urged the 59 man squad to be more citizen-friendly and have respect for human rights in everything they did.  He also advised them to minimise professional errors as their training was purposed to reduced such errors.  "You will always have the backing of the Police Administration as long as you stay within the confines of the rules of engagement of your unit," he said.

Mr Apeatu called on stakeholders to support the first batch of motorbike patrol fighters for them to do their professional best through training and re-training to sharpen their skills. Mr Simon Yao Afeku, the Director-General of Police Operations said the Police Administration had started a pilot deployment of motorbike patrols to some communities in Accra two weeks ago.

Mr Afeku mentioned Kwabenya, Atomic, Madina, North Kaneshie, Sakaman and Adentan as some of the beneficiary communities with the presence of motorbike patrols for neighbourhood safety currently.   He said the approach would help tackle crimes at the workplace, on the streets, residential areas and communities for safe, secure and peaceful communities across the length and breadth of the country to be sustained.