Police Commissioner condemns recent killing of policeman in Porgera
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE
MEDIA STATEMENT
Sunday January 26th 2020
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POLICE Commissioner David Manning today condemned the latest killing of a policeman in the gold mining township of Porgera in the Enga Province and has called for the death penalty to be imposed on “cop killers”.
“I have said it before and I will say it again, we cannot have policemen attacked and killed in such manner by criminal members of society. The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary is the embodiment of Government and State and an attack on police is an attack on these institutions.
“The death penalty must be imposed on anyone who kills a policeman. I am therefore calling upon our legislators to take this into consideration and amend or enact appropriate laws to serve as deterrent to such criminal behaviours,” Mr Manning said.
A massive combined Police and PNG Defence Force operation is currently underway in Porgera and neighbouring areas to flush out the criminals responsible for the shooting of the Policeman.
“The suspect who killed the policeman is known. We know who he is and we know his associates. We will find them,” Mr Manning said.
Tomorrow a special charter will fly the Acting Deputy Commissioner Operations Donald Yamasombi, Assistant Commissioner Operations Samson Kua and Director Special Services Division Superintendent Julius Tasion to Porgera to assess the situation.
“They will recommend the next course of action to take. However, I have briefed Prime Minister James Marape on what has happened and suggested that a State of Emergency be declared in Porgera,” Commissioner Manning said.
Commissioner Manning also expressed his intention to establish in the medium to long term an internal security force comprising Police and sister disciplined forces to combat the sporadic tribal fights within the highlands of PNG and the emergence of violent gangs around the country such as the Tommy Baker Gang.
“A major component of this will be intelligence driven so our intelligence community will be part of this force. Defence and the CIS will be required to come on board.
We will of course have to look at enabling legislations and appropriate funding to make this a force to be reckoned with. We cannot be complacent and sit back any more. Fire will have to be fought with fire,” Mr Manning said.
In the meantime Mr Manning said he will request to Government through Police Minister Bryan Kramer for proper safety equipment such as bullet proof vests, helmets and shields for police personnel.
“PNG is becoming a very dangerous country for policemen to work in and their safety and protection is very critical to ensuring that they can go out and continue to protect and serve the 8 million people of PNG.
“I will be meeting the Police Minister tomorrow where I will be putting a number of recommendations for him to take up with the Prime Minister and the National Executive Council. It is now time for some tough decisions to be made. Enough is enough.
“I also wish to send my sincerest condolences to the immediate family and colleagues of Constable Timot Kavanamur. It is unfortunate that the life of such a fine young man who had more to offer this country has now been cut short. May God comfort us all in this tragic hour,” Mr Manning said.
David Manning, MBE, DPS, QPM
Commissioner of Police
Police Commissioner David Manning, MBE, DPS, QPM.
Ends//
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It is a sad time for PNG to lose a cop again in line of Duty. To be frank, it is not a norm in our country to witness and hear about such scenarios but it has started in the recent decade to become a norm in our societies.
What is the ‘ROOT CAUSE’ these type of the uprising of these gangs or mobs or tribal war lords?
The PNG Royal Constabulary Police Commissioner must analyse, then find the root cause and come up with some strategic controls to these twisting events not only in Porgera but any conflict related areas around the country.
He must not last resort and say ‘DEATH PENALTY’ would be the only solution. There are better remedies to such events than death penalty.
I suggest;
1. increase the capacity of the police force(manpower) to accommodate for the big gap ratio of one police personnel is to about 800 civilians (1:800) from about 10,000 police officers in the country against the 8 million population,
2. set up elite police personnel only trained to intervene on situations beyond control especially in the particular volatile provinces,
3. made funds available and redundant old junks in the force to make rooms available for more energetic and smart critical thinking young men and women to join,
4. increase the period of initial training at Bomana to better equip the new recruits going out to carryout duties and instil the best discipline whilst doing their time in training at the police college,
Many more suggestion but these are for now.
Thanks.