Help address social issues, village court officials told

WARD councillors, village court officials and land mediators should work hard in their villages to address civil issues so police can concentrate on their primary roles of arresting offenders and bringing them to court, a senior police officer says.
East Sepik police commander Supt Albert Beli told The National that policemen were not supposed to always get involved in mediating civil cases but they could provide security during mediation.
He said civil cases such as land disputes, marriage problems or money-borrowing cases could be solved at the village court level using civil summons and not at the police station.
“I do not want to see large groups of people gathering at the front of the police station,” Supt Beli said.
“That creates noise pollution and also makes the duty police officer attend their civil issues and they forget about attending to criminal cases and arrest offenders.”
Supt Beli said one of the primary roles of the police was to arrest and charge suspects and bring them to court.
When police were too involved in mediation, they forgot to arrest and charge suspects who committed criminal offences.