The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Greater Accra Regional Police Command, DSP Afia Tenge, has advised the general public to be security-conscious and extra vigilant as some criminals may take advantage of the mandatory wearing of face masks to perpetrate crimes.

She said although facial recognition was important in identifying criminals, it had become difficult to recognise faces as everyone was expected to wear a face covering in public.

She advised that when crimes occurred, people should also take note of other key features such as physique, type and colour of clothes, type of vehicle used, number of persons who committed a crime, among others.

DSP Tenge explained that in the past, aside from facial recognition, the police used other traces to identify criminals, hence it was important for the general public to be extra vigilant in these times.

“We know criminals will take advantage of the current situation, and so people may not be able to identify someone who attacks them. Even before the compulsory wearing of face masks, some criminals operated in different face masks which completely covered their faces. The police had been able to identify some of them because of the traces they left behind.

“Crimes in communities are sometimes committed by people living within that same community, so if one is a bit vigilant you may be able to pick up clues like voices, stature or how they walk, which the criminal would not be able to change immediately. These are clues that have helped the police in tracing some criminals,” she said.

She explained that before the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Ghana Police Service had advised the general public to beware of people who entered bank premises, markets, shops and business areas wearing face coverings.

That directive was in response to a trend of robbery cases where the robbers, in order to avoid being captured on the closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs), adopted a method of hiding their identities through wearing hoods and helmet.