PHOTO: Assistant Commissioner of Police, Bong County, Fasu V. Sheriff
By Emmanuel Mafelah, Bong County Correspondent
GBARNGA, Liberia-Members of the Liberia National Police, Bong County detachment have called on the central government to provide it with more logistical empowerment, as the country moves toward the 2023 general and presidential Elections.
At the same time, the LNP Bong County detachment, as part of a new strategy, has called on all district state actors, ranking from representatives to quarter chiefs across the county, to join forces with the LNP to help provide security for communities.
Bong is the third most populous county in Liberia, with about 85,000 inhabitants next to Nimba and Montserrado Counties. It is centrally located in the country with several ethnic groups from the 15 political subdivisions of Liberia.
The call was made by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Fasu V. Sheriff recently in Gbarnga after the sector embarked on vigorous security enforcement across the county.
Commissioner Sheriff announced that a feasibility study conducted in Bong by the LNP has revealed that police depots are few and far between, located long distances from each other in rural areas.
The situation, according to him, can be remedied by empowering community watch forums across the county. “We will not sit because we have the constraint of limited manpower and fail to render support to the community,” he maintained.
Col. Sheriff then reassured the LNP’s commitment to supporting various community watch forums across Bong County to ensure a safe environment for inhabitants.
The Assistant LNP Commissioner admitted that though the sector is challenged, the community watch forums across Bong County have continued to buttress the government’s peace initiative throughout the area.
Meanwhile, Col. Sheriff has expressed excitement over the enthusiasm of young people in the county, including males and females, who are willing to join the community watch forums which, he noted, has to an appreciable extent reduced crimes in the county.
He then encouraged young people in various communities to establish watch forums and help the government through the Liberia National Police provide security for “hard to reach areas”.