Eradicate inefficiency in force

WE already have magistrates throwing out court cases because of the inefficiency of arresting officers.
It happened last year and is continuing into the New Year.
A lot of defendants appearing before the district courts are incorrectly charged or the hand up briefs were not written well or not prepared on time.
Already this is a waste of time for the courts and unfair on the defendants who at times are locked up.
Boroko District Court Magistrate Rosie Johnson in a special sitting last Monday struck out a case involving a man alleged to be carrying marijuana in his possession because of defective information.
The police brief presented in court by the prosecutor indicated the accused had 50 grams of the drug on him, however, Johnson found the information defective as the arresting officer stated a different amount which did not match with the information from the prosecutor.
A woman also had her case struck out by the Boroko District Court yesterday on the grounds that the charge against her was wrong and that it was a civil matter.
Magistrate Cosmas Bidar struck out a case of causing grievous bodily harm after police failed to provide evidence in court on time.
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.
Police 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.
Things have to be done right from the beginning so it’s not a waste of everyone’s time.
Such negligence by the police is a contributing factor to the public losing confidence in the police force.
No offences 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 should 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.
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.
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 Minister Bryan Kramer last year talked about applicants (university graduates) to undergo high-level training with the Australian Federal Police.
And rightly so, if the country planned to train the next batch of police recruits over two years, then unemployed university graduates would fit the bill.
The process of recruiting qualified personnel that will uphold and maintain these standards of professionalism is the foundation of any police agency.
To be effective in the 21st century, police recruiters should raise the standards on agency diversity, officer education level, and understanding of the values of the next generation of police officer.