CID clears premises of vehicles

Page 44: Daily Graphic, June 8, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE premises of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service have been cleared of impounded and exhibit vehicles.
The exercise followed a directive by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Quaye to the leadership of the CID to rid the premises of what he called “the unsightly picture depicting a carefree environment”.
The Deputy Director of the CID, Mr Ken Yeboah told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the next line of action was to level the frontage of the premises to keep it in shape.
He explained that the absence of an appropriate place to relocate the vehicles delayed the clearing exercise but was happy that it had finally been done.
As to whether measures had been put in place to forestall a situation where impounded or exhibits vehicles were parked for long periods resulting in some of them becoming scraps, Mr Yeboah said there was nothing the police could do.
He said the way forward was for the courts to expeditiously deal with the cases since they were exhibits.
He said unless the courts gave an order, the police could do nothing on its own.
Mr Yeboah said relocating the vehicles had not been easy since private garages were also not the best since anything could happen to them.
He said there was also not enough space at the Police Workshop to relocate them.
At a meeting with staff of the CID on Friday May 22, 2009, Mr Quaye likened congested and haphazard litter of vehicles at the frontage of the CID to a mismanaged vehicle scrap yard and demanded that the entire premises be cleared within one week.
He described the CID headquarters as an important establishment which must wean itself of such messy environment.