CS, police have to shoulder some responsibility

FOUR police officers sentenced last week to a total of 80 years in jail for the rape of 17-year-old girl in Wewak showed a complete disregard for the law by walking out of the courthouse and disappearing.
The four are now considered escapees. Prison and police officers are looking for them.
It is certainly worrying when convicted offenders are allowed to escape their sentence and not be held accountable for their actions.
The lack of action by police personnel and Correctional Service officers tasked to take the four into incarceration is disturbing.
These people should bow their heads in shame. So who do we blame here? The police are supposed to be a disciplined force. But when the people who are supposed to protect the public and maintain peace and order break the law and then are allowed to blatantly escape custody in a supposedly secure and public arena, one wonders if the country’s law enforcement is made up of competent professionals who adhere to a code of ethics and principles.
Of equal culpability must to be the Correctional Services officers who allowed the four men to exit the building without controlling the transfer of the prisoners from the courthouse to the jail at Boram.
The police have enough of a tarnished image when it comes to how they do their jobs. But in this case, the CS personnel also have to shoulder some of the responsibility.
According to the report, the four men whose ages range from 28 to 33 committed the crime on Dec 3, 2013, during a police raid on Kwanubo village in East Sepik.
Their station commander at the time Sakawar Kasieng was also convicted on the charge of arson and sentenced to six years.
Justice George Manuhu ruled that Kasieng had failed to stop his four subordinates Stanley Moui Jombu, Tianguma Harvey, Timon Kangapu and Robin Weibi from burning down homes at the village. Leadership and respect for authority seems to be the issue here.  There was either an apparent lack of respect for Kasieng’s position or the commander himself did not adequately marshal his men in carrying out their duties in a humane and lawful manner. It is what any rational person would expect from the police force.
In PNG, the continuous negligence, opportunism and brutality displayed by the police during the course of their work are breathtaking.
Police policies and methods as well as standard operating procedures need to be reviewed. That alone is clearly evident.
The media has and will always reported on instances of police personnel over-stepping the mark and actually breaking the law in the course of their duties.
Violence and intimidation has been a recurring theme with the police force that people in this country have now come to accept what law enforcement does as normal and even more concerning as legally proper.
That cannot and should not be the case. The police are the part of the public service, the machinery that ensures a safe and peaceful environment for all to live in.
If the people cannot rely on the police to protect their rights and maintain order in society, then who can they rely on?
But this goes beyond simply being a police matter. T
he Correctional Services has managed to hide behind their much-maligned brothers in blue and not take most of the flak and indignation that comes whenever there is an escalation in crime or injustices perpetrated by the so-called disciplined forces.
By allowing the four men to brazenly walk out of a courthouse, the CS has effectively added to the load of work the police must do. The irony is they were convicted police officers who took their chance to flee from being jailed right after their sentencing. They walked out in the presence of their fellow police officers who by their inaction condoned the four men’s actions.
The CS personnel failed to effectively handle the situation and take measures to minimise the risk of something like this happening.
Let us not forget that there is fault to be had all around. But the glaring questions are whether the CS are capable of complementing the judicial process and whether police personnel lack the competence to function effectively in society.