Deputy Superintendent of Police Sampson Agbeko, Brong-Ahafo Regional Coordinator of Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (D0VVSU), has appealed to the media to partner the police in
combating crime.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani on Friday, he said the media should go beyond educating the public on crime and policing to provide vital information to solve crimes.
He said over the years the police had resorted to punishment as a means of fighting crime and to deter others from committing crime.
"The reformative measure aimed at reforming culprits and satisfying the community in which the crime was committed prevents the community from
taking the law in their hands through instant justice.
"These measures have however failed because punishment is not the solution to crime", DSP Agbeko said.
DSP Agbeko noted that to prevent crime, the source needed to be identified and dealt with and that was the work of the DOVVSU, which
unfortunately had not been recognized by the general public.
He disclosed that about 80 per cent of criminals were from broken homes and called on parents to be responsible enough to help curb the menace.
The Domestic Violence Law is geared towards encouraging parents to be responsible towards their wards to reduce streetism, DSP Agbeko said, noting with regret that hitherto criminals only came to steal but now they come to steal, kill and destroy.
He said: "this new trend is being communicated among the various 'cells' of the criminals and if not checked will not be too healthy for the nation's development process."