Technical faults blamed for police failure to respond to distress calls – PRO

The Police say they are investigating their failure to respond to distress calls from a lecturer whose Ashongman home was  attacked by robbers last Sunday.

Director of Police Public Affairs, Superintendent Cephas Arthur lamented that Dr. Benedicta Fosu-Mensah was let down by the police possibly because of a technical fault in the communication system.

It could also be down to the poor professional attitude of the police who may have ignored the calls, he told Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Wednesday.

Dr. Fosu Mensah said she had a 20-minute opportunity to get help while four men broke through her window using cement blocks.

She eventually lost more than 2,000 cedis and other properties during the dawn attack.

“…they took the car, my flatscreen TV, laptop, jewelry, mobile phone, camera and anything they could lay hands on including the stew I prepared for the Easter,” she said.

But she says she is grateful to God that she had some money at home because, without it, the uncompromising robbers could have done the worst.

Photo: The ransacked room of Dr. Fosu-Mensah

Describing the incident as ‘very unfortunate’, SP Cephas Arthur said the police take a serious view of the failure to attend.




Recalling a personal embarrassment, he said emergency lines have occasionally failed the police.

He said he invited an audience to try calling some police emergency numbers. But right on live television, nobody picked the call after several attempts.

‘In fact, I sweated’ he said. He found out later that sometimes when lines get jammed, a call may seem to go through but that may not have been the case.

SP Cephas Arthur also bemoaned the growing individualistic lifestyle of Ghanaian communities.

“That is true…we don’t care about each other,” he said and blamed the development on the infiltration of western culture.

He lamented that the days when a mother will say “thank you for spanking my child are long gone”.

Source:Myjoyonline