Crime rate in Accra Ghana and its contributing factors - Essay Example

? 15 May Crime rate in Accra Ghana and its contributing factors: This paper is primarily based on a largely spoken and critically significant issue regarding the rising crime rate in Accra Ghana, which is too potentially threatening to be overlooked. Myriad factors like population demographics, socio-economic conditions, and public space are discussed in this paper in special regards to the growing rate of crime in Accra Ghana. The recent increase in horrendous crime in Accra present an issue of major concern demanding global attention because armed robberies, rapes, murders, and burglaries occur on daily basis now. The list of horrific atrocities committed by active criminals in Accra goes on and on and the societal structure is being deteriorated more and more, eventually. Both local citizens and expatriates are badly offended and affected by this phenomenal increase in crime rate, and no one can remain oblivious to this strengthening societal evil. The growing crime pattern largely depicts the devastated economic conditions that are prevalent in Accra. With the population of the Accra city recorded to be 4.5 million as of 2011, Accra represents the largest metropolitan assembly in Ghana. (Vanderpuije). Crime is a major challenge to the administrative team of Accra owing to the high density of population in the city. As the city of Accra is considered to be the hub of Ghana due to its massive population, this place has also become the hub of criminal activities as well. Urban growth has brought with itself the problems of low economic conditions, unemployment, lack of educational oppurtunities, and poor infrastructural state. (Adu-Mireku 153-168). The combination of giant population and poor economic state proves to be lethal for the suture potential of any place. This is because many facilities needed ferociously for the giant population are cancelled out by low economic state of a city. The case of Accra is just the same because more and more employment opportunities are demanded by the local citizens and in response to minimal employment opportunities, the youth promptly falls in the silken snare of crimes. Unemployment and lay-offs are terrifically common in Accra thus boosting the crime level. The present state in the capital is that the organized crime knows no boundaries and much of the crime is accentuated by poor socio-economic conditions. The incidence of burglary, which is an ubiquitous crime, is highly distressing while the heads of the family are outside at the workplaces. The crime of car theft is so common in Accra that the police force has repeatedly issues warnings to the local citizens to have parts of their cars engraved in an order to make their cars more identifiable once stolen, which is highly common in Accra these days. This step has slightly reduced the rate of car theft because “the most up-to-date figures put car thefts in 2008 at 131 compared with 146 the previous year.” (Wanted in Africa). The demographic and gender makeup of any place is very necessary to scrutinize when discussing crime rate and its patterns. Age, race, gender, and marital status are the most important predictors for explaining crime trends, patterns, and its distribution in the society. According to (Ghana Police Headquarters, cited in Appiahene-Gyamfi 20), “Accra data showed a progressive concentration of crime among young males aged between eighteenand thirty-six years.” Most of the criminals caught by the police force are single and appear to have little or no educational knowledge. They also do not have any employment records owing to their minimal education. Age differences are also highly related to the type of criminal activities performed. Car thefts and robbery incidents are more common among the younger age group in Accra and operating burglaries involving residential places of expatriates is more common among the middle age group. A study conducted between 2004 and 2005 by (Adjei et al. 594) reveals that the most common reasons the criminals were in prison in Accra were “stealing (76.1 %), armed robbery (54.6 %), rape (45?9 %), narcotics (41.1 %), murder (35.9 %), fraud (25.9 %), de?lement (17.6 %) and assault (9?8 %).” “Public space crime” is also so common in Accra that it has almost become a sort of norm to see fearless thieves brandishing their arms and snatching mobile phones and cash from people on the gun point. Criminal activities remain vibrantly in process in public places like the Kaneshie market, Nkrumah Circle and Accra Central even in broad daylight. (Takyi-Baodu). Public spaces prove to be a major source of attraction for the criminals because everybody is allowed to visit such places irrespective of class, gender, race, religion, or color. Kaneshie market has the largest number of industries in Ghana and “during the day, and depending upon the season, the population of Accra Central or Kaneshie could swell to between 1.5 and 2 million people each.” (Appiahene-Gyamfi 16). That is why, local crime researchers in Accra have reported that the crime rate in the public spaces remains the highest of all places and despite knowing this fact, the police force remains unable to capture the criminals because in most the cases, they are themselves involved in providing greater access to the criminals for attacking the innocent citizens. Media activity in Accra is appreciably vibrant and many reporters feverishly seek to expose the activities and plans made by the criminals for ensuring the public safety but without the assistance of the police force, no significant betterment is expected. The Accra citizens know very well about the constant danger they are exposed to outside their homes and therefore, their normal social lives are totally marred by the growing crime rate. They cannot even carry out any normal activities and operate transactions because of the alarming prospect of robbery. Takyi-Baodu) lays stress on the growing crime incidence in Accra by mentioning that fear has tightly gripped the Accra citizens and paralyzed them because of the terrible organized burglary and murder incidents that occur repeatedly in a single day. Concern about the security situation in the capital city is so huge that people are literally afraid of staying out of their homes because of the looming prospect of inhuman crime outside. Organized crime is so common now in Accra that the criminals have developed the insane habit of watching and analyzing the movements and activities of the victim for days before attacking him/her for acquiring valuable items like cash and jewelry. Maximal attainment of cash and other valuable possessions forms the bedrock of this pattern of strict observation based on many days. Other than that, the trend of open robbing is also quite prevalent in the city according to research reports. There is visibly no fear of the police force which is quite oblivious to the crazy rate of criminal activities ongoing in the city. Although the police force claims that the crime has been suppressed significantly by arresting a minimal percentage of the criminals, the real aggravated situation presents totally opposite facts. The peace and security situation in Accra is continually degenerating from bad to worse with the passing days and this poses a real threat to the livelihood of the innocent public. Every single citizen in the capital city is fully aware of the surge of crime because it affects all and spares none. This phenomenal crime wave has already spread from Accra and now it cuts across the entire nation. This means that this grave issue has gone beyond Accra now and immediate global attention is required now so that strict crime control strategies can be planned and implemented. Works cited: Adjei, Andrew A., Armah, Henry B., Gbagbo, Foster, Ampofo, William K., Quaye, Isaac K. E, Hesse, Ian F. A, and Mensah, George. “Prevalence of human immunode?ciency virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and syphilis among prison inmates and of?cers at Nsawam and Accra, Ghana.” Journal of Medical Microbiology 55 (2006): 593-597. Print. Adu-Mireku, Samuel. “Fear of Crime Among Residents of Three Communities in Accra, Ghana.” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE SOCIOLOGY 43 (2002): 153-168). Appiahene-Gyamfi, Joseph. “Urban crime trends and patterns in Ghana:The case of Accra.” Journal of Criminal Justice 31 (2003): 13–23. Print. Takyi-Baodu, Charles. “Fear grips Accra residents …over increasing spate of crime.” Ghanaian chronicle. 07 May. 2009. Web. 15 May. 2011. Vanderpuije, Alfred O. “Accra Metropolitan Assembly.” 2006. Web. 15 May. 2011. Wanted in Africa. “Crime: Accra police warn on car thefts.” ACCRA NEWS. 22 Mar. 2011. Web. 15 May. 2011. Read More