People ‘fear police’ more than criminals

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POLICE brutality has reached a point where people now fear police more than criminals, Finschhafen MP Reinbo Paita says.
He said during grievance debate on Friday that the Government seriously needed to address police brutality because ordinary citizens had already lost any trust and confidence they may have had in the force.
“One of the issue is that many cases of police brutality were never concluded well with the police officer involved prosecuted,” Paita said.
“As leaders and Members of Parliament, we have our security guaranteed. But what about the citizens?
“Many people are afraid to live in our country because of police brutality.”
Paita said apart from so much discussion and emphasis on infrastructure and economic developments, police brutality must be a top agenda of the Government.
“I thought to myself that one day, (when) the opportunity comes for me to enter the Parliament, the first thing I will speak on the floor of Parliament is to get rid of police brutality,” he said.
“Can we seriously push for police brutality to be taken head on by the agencies responsible like the Police Ministry and the Police Department, and us individual MPs as leaders?
“We as a Parliament really needs to address these issue.”
Paita said the reality of private security firms popping up everywhere in the country was due to the fact that people and the business community had lost faith in the police.
“Why would we, as a country, need many security when we have the police force to provide security for the citizens and the business community and everyone?
“This is an indication that the companies as well as the private sectors have lost faith and confidence in the police force.”