Police officers need protection

Letters

The Police Minister’s call for legislation to protect policemen and policewomen and impose higher penalties for illegal gun users is timely.
I commend the minister for his positive reaction to the death of four policemen within four months in the Highlands region.
These loss of lives could have been avoided if retired army commander General Singarok’s Gun Summit Report recommendations had been implemented. The report may be laying idle somewhere in Parliament House.
Law enforcement officers are vulnerable and now are seen as weak.
Illegal firearms in the hands of criminals, leaders, tribal warlords and clansmen are much sophisticated than the guns police use.
Those weapons cause fear among young policemen and women who now face the dilemma of either continuing to serve or leave.  The police force was once seen as a noble profession and was admired by many who served with distinction.
Today it is a job that can get you killed.
The Government needs to make a law that will protect police officers and severely punish those who try to harm them.

Joe Maragil
Mt Hagen