Change police recruitment process

NO offence intended, but it is time the minimum entry mark for new police recruits be set at grade 12 and above with a certain GPA (grade point average).
English grades must be C or better. We want officers who can read and comprehend and write reports.
Far too many cases are being thrown out of the courts because the hand up briefs were not written well or not prepared on time.
Aptitude tests and fitness testing should form part of the recruitment process.
Once a recruit is accepted into the police academy, it should be compulsory for them to participate in classroom and practical instruction.
They learn state laws, criminal investigations, patrol procedures, firearms training, traffic control, defensive driving, self-defence, first aid and most importantly computer skills.
This week, Magistrate Cosmos Bidar dismissed the case of a five-year-old girl who was allegedly killed by a drunk car driver due to poor police investigations and lack of evidence.
Magistrate Cosmos Bidar struck out the case and discharged the suspect because of a flawed charge.
Bidar said the standard of investigation was poor and the charge was flawed with the police brief failing to mention that the child had died.
Very disappointing that the basic feature of the statement that the investigating officer obtained did not comply with the law of the District Court Act.
And then we have Magistrate Rosie Johnson raising concerns about arresting officers’ knowledge of the law when placing charges on suspects as it has become a problem for the court when cases are struck out because the correct charge was not applied.
She was discussing the Family Protection Act and how certain laws within it apply to families.
They have to be cautious about which act to charge people under. It’s not simple just locking somebody up in the cells, and then only to find out that they were wrongly charged under the wrong act.
We concur with her that things have to get it right from the beginning so it’s not a waste of everyone’s time.
Another area of concern for magistrate is for police investigators to be attentive and timely in their reports when arresting and charging people as it was causing them inconvenience to remain in custody
Magistrate Johnson recently struck out the case of a man charged with spreading false reports because nothing was in his file.
Police prosecutors had made an application in court for the case to be struck out as the arresting
officers were yet to determine
the nature of the charge and the suspects’ case file was incomplete.
Such negligence by officers is a contributing factor to the public losing confidence in the police force.
Recruitment of the next generation of police officers should be one of the most important functions for the human resources professionals and leaders in the Police department.
Police integrity, or the lack thereof, is a frequent topic throughout media, academia, and all law enforcement organisation.
The current conduct of some police officers has somehow overtaken the good deeds and tarnishing the credibility of the PNG Police Force.
The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary must energise, prioritise and act to take charge of its future and begin the journey of reform through its recruitment.