Sheriff Armando Fontoura presented the first of more than 130 ballistic vests to Kwaku Amo, a resident of Irvington and the Executive Secretary General of the Council of Ghanaian Associations of New Jersey and Dr. A. Zachary Yamba, a resident of South Orange and the former president of Essex County College, at a recent ceremony at Veterans Courthouse.
The bulletproof vests will be donated by the Essex County Sheriff’s Office to the Nima District Police in Ghana. The still serviceable vests became surplus when federal and state grants allowed the sheriff’s office to upgrade their vests.
Nima District officers police Accra, the nation’s capital, and the surrounding region. They have won many prestigious international awards for best police practices.
“We are proud to do our part in protecting our uniformed Ghanian brothers and sisters as they combat crime and serve the people of their community,” said Sheriff Fontoura.
Mr. Amo praised Sheriff Fontoura for his generosity in making this initiative become a reality saying, “We express our sincere gratitude to Sheriff Fontoura. This initiative will also allow the Council of Ghanaian Associations to fulfill our mission as we build bridges between Ghana and New Jersey.”
Following the presentation, Sheriff Fontoura, Executive Secretary General Amo and the former president of Essex County College Dr. A. Zachary Yamba discussed the possibility of the Essex County Sheriff’s Office training Ghanaian police officers in ballistics, infrastructure security, narcotics investigations, bomb disposal methods and emergency management and homeland security disciplines.
Of all the non-important fluff I’ve seen on this site…There’s plainly more than one way to have a “hack-a-thon.”
I am suddenly, however, moved to wonder what’s the crime rate in Ghana. Anf if the Ghanaians in fact have gun control to any appreciable degree.
Also, who’s going to be paying the air freight charges for the vests?