Crime rate in Accra Ghana and its contributing factors Essay

Crime rate in Accra Ghana and its contributing factors - Essay Example 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 i s 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 â€Å"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), â€Å"Accra data showed a progressive concentration of crime among young males aged bet ween 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