Ikpeazu inaugurates crime prevention, management system

Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia on Monday inaugurated a Crime Prevention and Management System (CPAMS) as part of government’s efforts to improve policing and effectively tackle criminality in the state.

Speaking at the event in Umuahia, Ikpeazu said the initiative was introduced to provide solution to issues of criminality in Abia.

He described CPAMS as a programme that offered a platform for digital transferable information for effective policing.

The governor said that the Nigeria police had an arduous task of tackling crime, adding that the system was structured to provide a better way of identifying criminals.

He said the system would promote proactive policing by placing security agents “a step ahead of criminals”.

“I am happy that with this, every criminal can be profiled with information about the crime they committed and the crime scene.

“The information would be stored in a digital database and will be made available to various police formations.

“This will also enable the police to extract information from suspects with ease and without coercion,” Ikpeazu said.

He said that another advantage of the system was the aspect of community participation as the citizenry could report crime through the CPAMS mobile app.

The governor called on the citizenry to be part of effective policing for improved security.

He reiterated the state government’s efforts to make Abia the safest state in Nigeria as well as create the right environment for the promotion of socio-economic development.

In a remark, the Commissioner for Homeland Security, Mr Dan Okoli, said the ministry was working in line with the state government’s agenda to bring crime level to zero.

Okoli expressed delight over the government’s approval for the recruitment of 486 youths in the ministry.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Janet Agbede, said that modern security system had become necessary in view of the dynamism in criminality across the nation.

Agbede described the initiative as noble and in tandem with the vision of the police to advance the frontiers of community policing across the country.

According to her, with effective implementation of the new security system, crime in the state will soon be a thing of the past.

The Coordinator of CPAMS, Mr Endi Ezengwa, said the programme was designed to launch the state into a 21st Century system of crime detection and prevention platform.

Ezengwa appealed for the support of stakeholders to ensure the success and effective deployment of the programme in the state.

A major highlight of the event was a demonstration of the operation of the system by the CPAMS team, comprising the police and operatives of Homeland Security Watch.