Disciplined forces they are not

 BEATINGS, intimidation, bullying, humiliation, verbal abuse and brutality are stereotypes associated with our armed and disciplined forces. 

The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary and the Defence Force leave a lot to be desired in the way they conduct themselves in certain situations. 

Over the weekend, a police officer based at the Waigani Police station, in Port Moresby, was attacked by a mob and savagely beaten as he was in the line of duty, investigating an earlier incident that had happened at the Waigani market. 

The officer, who has not been named, is reportedly in a critical condition at the Port Moresby General Hospital. 

One can only guess at why civilians would gang up on a lone officer of the law and beat the individual soundly enough to leave him at death’s door, but the reaction from his fellow police officers has been nothing short of brutal and swift. 

The market was not just closed, but burnt down with stalls and an assortment of tables, boxes and roofing material and even perishable goods reduced to ashes and rubble after clearly angry policemen violently reacting to the attack on their comrade. 

No doubt innocent vendors and perhaps members of the public who had nothing to do with the assault on the police officer were treated as if they were answerable in some way.  

The old adage that violence begets violence could not be truer in this instance, but the extremely disappointing aspect of this incident is that the state body tasked with upholding law and order in the community chose to follow the path of retaliatory action. 

Instead of doing the very job they are trained to do which is to investigate, gat­her evidence, and apprehend and charge those suspected of committing the crime, they themselves have committed a crime. 

The destruction of private and public property is surely a crime. 

So is coercing with the threat of violence people to vacate a premises they are lawfully occupying for the purpose of conducting business – in this case the selling of produce as well as clothing and garments. 

This kind of thuggery has become the default reaction not just for the police but the military as well. 

There is no discipline in these so-called forces. 

While we sympathise with the officer who was attacked, surely the response to this could have been much more professional and controlled. 

There have been calls to replace the Police Commissioner with someone who can get a handle on the situation and maintain an adherence to the letter of the law and above all bring dignity, pride and respect to the force. 

There seems to be none of that at present. 

While on the outside the PNG Police Force exudes a sense of stability, the actions of the police personnel who razed the Waigani market tells a very different story. 

There is in fact, no discipline and if there is, it is of a tenuous sort. 

This is partly because the hierarchy has failed to come down hard on those within its rank and file who have for want of a better expression, broken the law. 

When will the people who profess to serve and protect the public act the part? 

The police are not the only ones behaving badly. 

Last Friday, in Gonowa village, in Transgogol local level government in Madang, several houses were burned to the ground members of the PNG Defence Force after one of their soldiers was slashed on the arm while trying to counsel youths from that village over an alleged robbery last month. Again the circumstances warranted a response but to burn houses and cause general destruction is hardly affirmative action. 

The soldiers returned at midday on Saturday and burnt 10 houses belonging to the youths and their parents and those of  innocent people.

The irony is that, the soldiers would have been better advised to let the police handle the matter instead of intervening. 

Both forces have over the years had similar instances of their personnel taking the law literally into their  own hands after clashes with the public. 

It is abundantly clear that neither the police nor the defence force react well when dealing with the public but the worrying part is if they cannot get it right then who is left to turn to?