By: Haja Hawa Koroma
The recently appointed Officer-in-Charge (O.C) for the New England Ville Police Station, Superintendent Monica Emelda Johnson, shares her challenges and changes she has made since she took up office and her short-term plans for the station, in an exclusive interview.
O.C Johnson officially took up office on the 27th of June 2022. According to her one of the major challenges she was faced with when she took up office was the poor sanitization of the station, and stated that the station was filled with filth and the toilet facilities lacked proper hygiene.
She mentioned that this area was the first act she exercised as Officer Commanding in the police precinct, and made sure that the pipes that were used as access to fetch water for the toilets were spoiled but have been restored, and ensures constant monitoring of the facilities for a proper hygienic environment.
Mrs Johnson also mentioned that they will be engaging in a thorough cleaning exercise of the entire police station wherein every area of the office will be cleared of filth and dirt.
According to her, she is particular about sanitization because she wants to create an environment wherein their clients will experience a conducive environment when they visit their station with their problems; instead of facing discomfort at the sight of filth or the embarrassing smell of the station.
Further to her curbing the challenges, she has also embarked on a daily officer’s parade since she took over office. The O.C stated that, when she took up office, she noticed that some officers show up in the morning and during mid-day, they abandon their duties and go about engaging in doing something else. And whenever she asks for them, some of their colleagues tend to make up excuses to cover for them.
She said she had introduced a daily Officers parade, wherein every morning all the officers engage in a parade and thereafter discuss current issues, share ideas and assigns tasks for the day. And in the evening they also engage in the same parade, this prevents them from abandoning their duties untimely because they know they have to report for evening parades before they clock out.
She also expressed that one other major challenge she is faced with is the lack of necessary equipment in the station. She said that New England Ville is a very big community, therefore their needs are vast. The station lacks sufficient cars to transport prisoners and some other important necessities as well. According to her, she most times calls for assistance from headquarters stations for some of these necessities just so they can do an effective job and that is very challenging for the station.
Furthermore, Superintendent Johnson outlined some of her short-term goals as O.C. She stated that New England Ville is a very big community so, for her to do an effective job, she intends to meet with stakeholders of the community, like community chiefs, headman, chairman and chair ladies etc., so that they can engage in meaningful discussions that will not only help the police station but the community as well.
The O.C encourages her female colleagues in their male-dominated field to aspire to move to greater heights as they are constantly breaking the barriers of men being holders of higher positions in their field.
