The Ghana Police Service (GPS) is the main

law enforcement agency A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. The service is under the control of the Ghanaian

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

, and employs over 30,000 officers across its 651 stations.

Organisational structure

The Ghana Police Service operates in twelve divisions: ten covering the ten regions of Ghana, one assigned specifically to the seaport and industrial hub of Tema, and the twelfth being the Railways, Ports and Harbours Division. An additional division, the

Marine Police Water police, also called bay constables, coastal police, harbor patrols, marine/maritime police/patrol, nautical patrols, port police, or river police are a Specialist law enforcement agency, specialty law enforcement portion of a larger polic ...

Unit, exists to handle issues that arise from the country's offshore oil and gas industry. The current head of the Ghana Police Service is Inspector General of Police (IGP) Christian Tetteh Yohunu. For each of the regional police divisions, there is a Regional Commander who is in charge of all operational and administrative functions under his jurisdiction. In direct operational matters, the Regional Commander furthermore works in tandem with the Regional Operational Commander. For administrative functions, the Regional Commander is assisted by the Deputy Regional Commander and the Regional Crime Officer. The Deputy Inspector-General of Police is assisted by the Director-General of the Police Administration, and supervises the activities of the regional commanders of police.

Regional divisions

Apart from the National Police Headquarters, all the regional divisions have subdivisions under them. The aim of this is to decentralize the activities of the regional police force for more effective and flexible service.

Special units

There are, furthermore, specialized police units in all the regional divisions. The Regional Commander has oversight over these units. These units include: * Arms and Ammunition * Audit Offices * Courts and Prosecution * Crime Offices * Domestic Violence and Victim Support * Finance Offices * Highway Patrol Unit * Mobile Force (in eight regions) * Motor Traffic and Transport Unit * Police Training Schools (in five regions). * Public Affairs Directorate * Rapid Deployment Force * Mounted Squadron

Marine Police Unit

In April 2011, the Ghana Police Service set up a special

Unit (MPU). The unit has amongst its duties policing operations related to the country's oil and gas industry, and the handling of offenses contained in the Fisheries Act 2002 and Fisheries Regulations 2011. The Marine Unit was inaugurated in Takoradi on 21 June 2013 by Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur. The unit operates two 9-meter patrol boats (P1 & P2) and four 6.3-meter rigid inflatable boats (P3, P4, P5 & P6).

Mounted Squadron

On August 12, 2021, the

Police Service launched a horse patrol operations as part of the Mounted Squadron Unit of the Ghana Police Service. This unit would be running patrol services in some selected part of

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, Ghana.

Other

The Ghana Police Service has a women's soccer/football club called the Police Ladies Football Club, which was formed in 2007. The club plays in the Ghana Women’s Premier League, the first tier women's football league.

Inspector General of Police

The current head of the Ghana Police Service is Inspector General of Police (IGP) Christian Tetteh Yohunu.

Ghana Police Ranks

* Inspector General of Police * Deputy Inspector General * Commissioner * Deputy Commissioner * Assistant Commissioner * Chief Superintendent * Superintendent * Deputy Superintendent * Assistant Superintendent * Chief Inspector * Inspector * Sergeant * Corporal * Lance Corporal * Constable

Gallery

File:Ghana Police Service Badge.jpg, Ghana Police Service badge. File:Ghana Police Service Academy.jpg, Ghana Police Service officers and

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. File:Ghana Police Service Mowag Piranha.jpg, Ghana Police Service Mowag Piranha I 8x8, MOWAG Roland and Mowag Piranha I 4x4. File:Ghana Police Service Motorbikes.jpg, Ghana Police Service motorcycles and despatch riders. File:Ghana Police Service Boat P-2 (Marine Police Unit).jpg, Police Unit (MPU) patrol boat P2. File:Ghana Police College housing block.JPG, Facilities at the Ghana Police College, in

References

{{authority control Law enforcement agencies of Ghana Law enforcement in Ghana Government ministries of Ghana 1894 establishments in the British Empire