PHOTOS: Meet the first female police with PhD

She was one of 50 PhD graduates from the university where she had earlier obtained her first and MPhil degrees.
The radiance and illumination on her face summed up her joy and made her kinsmen of Botoku, near Ho proud.
Her drive to pursue degrees in Art Education from the undergraduate level through to the PhD level was simply informed by her ‘calling’ in the service as a crime officer.

Currently, she is the Divisional Crime Officer of the Tesano District Police Station in Accra. Her thesis was on “Art Therapy as an Intervention to Mitigate the Traumatic Effects Experienced by Victims of Human Trafficking Kumasi, Ghana,” which was considered one of the best.
Asked why she chose art ahead of all the so-called big programmes, she said it was strategic to help easily identify suspects.
With her gift in fine art, the female police PhD holder said once she captured images of suspects through drawings rather than photographs, they forever stuck in her mind and she could easily identify such miscreants anywhere.
Degrees

DSP Dr Aba-Afari obtained her first degree from the College of Art and Built Environment, KNUST, with a Bachelor of Fine Art (BFA Painting) in 2005, an MPhil also in Art Education in 2011 and a PhD in the same area recently.
Service records
DSP Dr Aba-Afari joined the Ghana Police Service in 1990 as a Constable, rose to become a Corporal in 1994 and a Detective Chief Inspector in 2005.
Her steady rise in the service saw her move up to become Officer Cadet in 2007, an Assistant Supt of Police (ASP) in 2008 and a DSP in 2012.
Publications

Her academic publications include: “Art Therapy as an Intervention to Mitigate the Traumatic Effects Experienced by Victims of Human-Trafficking Kumasi, Ghana; Art Therapy and Trauma: The Case of Human Trafficked Victims; Art Therapy the Evidence for Trauma Release: Emotionally Traumatised Victims (In Press); Some Causes and Types of Human trafficking in Ghana: Victims of Human trafficking (In Press).
Service
DSP Dr Aba-Afari served and is still serving humanity in different capacities. Between 2001 and 2002 for instance, she served in the UN Peace Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a Human Rights Investigator.
She also served as a Liaison Officer for Tuzla Ministry of the Interior and the International Police Task Force (IPTF), as well as served in the UN Peace Mission (UNAMID) in Darfur-Sudan from 2010 to 2012 as a Coordinator.
Family
A former Crime Officer for Ashanti Central Division and the former Ashanti Regional Anti-Human trafficking Unit Commander, DSP Dr Aba-Afari is married with two children but would not want to share information on her family as a way of protecting them.
 
Source: Daily Graphic