Critiquing is one of the realities you are bound to face when you are engaged in any endeavour especially if it is a public one.
Criticism is almost like the twin brother of critiquing but criticism is usually done by those who do not mean well, wish well or want to see the organisation they criticise all the time succeed.
Whatever is done on this earth is almost certain like the sun rising from the east and setting at the west, that people will talk about it.
This talking usually is not the problem but the continual scenical nature of is what leaves much to be desired.
As citizens, we are required to offer constructive criticisms so that those who are paid through our taxes to provide one service or the other work in our interest to the best of their ability and within the confines of existing laws.
There are many Ghanaians who for whatever reasons are life time unrepentant award winning critics of the Ghana Police Service whether there is a preponderance of facts, figures or evidence to back their criticisms or not, they will always criticise.
Good or bad, they will criticise
As indicated earlier, those who make it their business or civic duty to express opinions about the police are at liberty to either be positive (critiquing or constructive criticism) or negative ( baseless criticism) or if you like to constructively criticise the police or destructively do so. It is solely their choice to make. Where it sends all of us is a whole topic for another.
Unfortunately, what those who have opted to be perpetual critics of the service have failed to notice is that, as the service gets used to more of the criticisms and not the constructive critiquing, it gets used to it and then miss the right dose of critiquing that would have helped in shaping it up.
So which would you prefer? Criticism for the sake of criticism or critiquing for a better Ghana Police Service that is capable of rubbing shoulders with any police force around the globe?
We have got to find a way of offering constructive criticism in this country if we are indeed sincere what we are doing or saying about our police service.
Let’s stop painting the police service black always and help it clean its house of the miscreants who are tarnishing its image.
Over time, I have come to the realisation that our kind of criticism has always taking a certain form.
I present to you the following observations as to how I think those who criticise or critique the police service go about their right to criticise or critique.
The critics in this country will always find fault with the police service instead of taking a critiquing stand or look at the organisational structure of the service to see how it can be made effective to serve the nation in continuously changing world with attendant sophistication in crime.
Those who criticise the police always look for what is lacking in the police service but not interested in solutions.
Sadly, many of these people are educated individuals and politicians who engage in these things for reasons best known to them.
Elsewhere, those who critique the police do so not because of the political mileage they stand to gain, but by taking a critical look at what’s working or not working in order to improve upon it or change it entirely.
In our part of the world, the critics go as far as condemning what they don’t even understand or know little about just to achieve their aims.
This phenomenon has produced some so called specialist or security analysis who my all intents and purposes also usually come wearing political lenses and know nothing about the workings of the police service to jump from radio station to radio station talking about the police as though they know all about the Ghana police service.
We really don’t have genuine police critics here to do a critical critiquing of the service, if we did, we would have had these critiques asking for clarification to many of the things they have no knowledge about before jumping to the radio stations to talk about certain issues without recourse to the service or seek clarification before jumping on the band wagon to spew gibberish about the police.
Because they are not interested in critiquing but baseless criticism, they usually speak with in a cruel, verbose, acidic and sarcastic tone.
We all know that a good critique’s voice is one that is kind, honest, and objective and straight to the point. Not one that is always trying to make the police appear as though it is the most inhuman institution on the surface of this earth.
Because criticism of these individuals exudes negativity, even when the police service excels in peace keeping mission in Sudan, many of our people still hold doubts about it.
When will our kind of criticism be positive so that when the Ghana Police Service promises the people of Ghana a world class police service, they will buy into it?
It is my hope that those who criticise without basis will learn to criticise constructively and those who are learning to do a critique of our service, will learn to do so in sincerity and honesty for a better Ghana Police Service.
Are you part of those who criticise or critique the police?
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