Dept loses millions in court cases, says top cop

 By JUNIOR UKAHA

THE police force is losing millions of kina in court cases, a senior police officers says.

Director of the police legal unit Chief Supt Hogers Ette said court cases instituted against the constabulary by officers had eaten into its budget.

Though Ette did not give any figures, he said the cost was in the millions. 

“These are unbudgeted expenses and should be avoided,” he told a police conference in Lae, Morobe. 

Ette said in the case of officers who won their cases, the courts normally ordered police to reinstate them and pay “lost salaries”.

He said the constabulary had to meet layers’ fees too.

He told police officers that under the Police Force Act no one apart from the Commissioner and the director for Internal Affairs Unit had the right to penalise an officer guilty of a serious or minor offence.