PNG: Police launch 'dirty cop' probe
Updated
Papua New Guinea's police have announced an investigation into allegations that force members have been involved in recent armed robberies carried out in the capital Port Moresby. The accusations come as PNG police face a continuing uphill battle against the country's increasing crime rate.
Presenter: Firmin Nanol
Speakers: PNG Police Union president Robert Ali; Port Moresby police chief, Fred Yakasa; PNG Assistant Police Commissioner responsible for Crimes, Raphael Huafolo
NANOL: PNG Police Commissioner Gari Baki has announced a special team will investigate allegations that crooked cops are colluding with criminals in armed robberies. He says he is determined to get to the bottom of the issue. The allegations follow intelligence reports revealing several policemen were involved in a series of attempted robberies in Port Moresby in recent months. In one incident a reservist policeman who was working as a bank guard hijacked a plane carrying over one-and-a-half million US dollars, which he was escorting from Port Moresby to PNG's Western province. The man was killed in an ensuing gun-battle between police and criminals. PNG's Police Union, President Robert Ali had this to say about the incident:
ALI: We opened the floodgates and every Tom, Dick and Harry that is coming in here they're using the authority, the constitutional powers of the police to abuse to their advantage, and there's classic examples of this, and one of which is this recent armed robbery committed by this reservist and he was shot and killed. And that is enough for us to, we cannot go far or do better research on it to find out whether it's true. This is a clear cut case of this happening right before our very eyes. So I think there's more than enough evidence for us now to taking some action.
NANOL: Commissioner Gari Baki has tasked Port Moresby's police chief, Fred Yakasa to do an internal investigation. Fred Yakasa says he is determined to unearth any rogue cops and reservist officers who allegedly misuse firearms and police uniforms, and steal from the public and businesses.
YAKASA: This is something that we want to do, no specific instructions yet but it's something that I was taking onboard myself as the concerned commander in this case. The Commissioner has not given any specific directions but we don't, we… these are problems that we know it's happening … and I would take it upon myself to do that so that we can clean up our mess within our organisation so that we don't see these sort of people getting involved in criminal activities.
NANOL: PNG's Assistant Police Commissioner responsible for Crimes, Raphael Huafolo has supported the move. He says such officers have no place in the police force, and has demanded that police recruits be screened properly for any criminal records.
HUAFOLO: These people are better off not being policemen at all so that we can help good people who can actually enforce the law to ensure we minimise crime within the country.
NANOL: That is one reason why the public is not having trust in policemen?
HUAFOLO: That is one of the reasons, there are many other reasons. Not all policemen are bad policemen, most of the policemen are good but only a few who are involved in such illegal activities come out to the forefront by media coverage and they paint a very bad picture of the organisation. These are the people we are trying to actually get rid of.
NANOL: PNG's Police Union, President Robert Ali says the investigation team should fully investigate reservist police officers and freeze taking on new recruits until the task is finished. He says PNG police personnel are paid well and there should be no reason for officers getting involved in criminal activities.
ALI: If they're going out and doing what they're doing now I think you should do it. Many of the policemen were not exerting some control and they're probably living beyond their means. That's why it's creating that avenue for them to go out and venture into these other activities.
NANOL: PNG Police Commissioner, Gari Baki is expected to announce the investigations team soon.
