New Police PRO assures cordial relations with media

By Muhammed Sailu Bah The newly appointed police Public Relation Officer (PRO) Assistant Superintendent Police (ASP) Lamin Njie has assured the building of cordial relationship between the police and the media in the Gambia. ASP Njie made this disclosure in an interview with this reporter in his office at Banjul Police headquarters on Monday, 3 August 2015. “One of my very important objectives is to establish a cordial relationship with all press and media establishments within the country. I intend to work towards eradicating misconceptions in the public sphere about unfounded myths within the police force in a bid to bridge the divide between the police and the public through dialogue. Such endeavor I believe is possible only through the flow of relevant information to the media,” he revealed. The new Police PRO said he will be working towards achieving these set goals and targets of the Gambia Police Force, in particular, and the Gambia Government, in general, as stated in their mission statement. ASP Njie said this mission of the police is “to ensure the maintenance of Law and Order, thus creating a high sense of public confidence in the police, while adequately keeping the personnel and the public informed.” He added that in doing this, they will be engaged in “analyzing public perceptions and attitudes, identifying their (police) policy with public interest and then execute programmes for communication with the police and the public.” Further dwelling on the vision of the police force, PRO Njie said it is focus on “seeing a crime free Gambia, where citizens live happily and harmoniously under one umbrella with a proactive police force that thrives on instilling the highest sense of professionalism in its personnel, through information flow, while enjoying the continuous support, confidence and assistance of the people it serves.” ASP Njie was born in Buniadu Village and attended the Brikama Women’s Federation Nursery School, Kabafita Lower Basic School , Kinderdorf Bottrop Junior Secondary School and then Gambia Senior Secondary School. From there, he proceeded to the Gambia College to pursue a Higher Teachers’ Certificate (HTC) course and later to the University of The Gambia (UTG) where he majored in Development Studies and minored in Psychology. Mr. Njie worked as a teacher from 2006 to 2010 and taught in various junior and senior secondary schools in the West Coast and Upper River Regions. He later enlisted in the Gambia Police Force in June 2010 as Cadet Inspector and underwent a six months training in basic recruitment and cadet development course and emerged as the overall best cadet officer of the squad. From there, he started rotating in the various units of the police force such as the Charge Office, CID, etc. and was attached to the Press and Public Relations Office in 2013 to assist the PRO as a police press officer. In May 2013, he was confirmed in the position of Inspector and in July 2015 was promoted to Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) assuming the office of PRO after the departure of ASP David Colley, his predecessor, on a peace keeping mission.]]>