Lakari warns WHP officers

 By JAMES APA GUMUNO

ROGUE policemen have no place in the force and will be treated like criminals if found guilty of crimes, Western Highlands provincial police commander Supt Martin Lakari says.

Lakari, pictured, said police in uniform attacking citizens would face serious disciplinary action and eventually be terminated from the police force.

He issued the warning last week following a media report about two men claiming to be assaulted by drunken policemen last Friday and Saturday.

“I want to remind my policemen and women that if a person breaks a law, you must respect their rights, bring them to the police station and charge them accordingly,” Lakari said.

He said the law did not allow policemen to beat offenders before bringing them to the station to charge them.

He said those who did not follow their code of ethics and carried out illegal practice would be treated like any other criminal and would face the full force of the law.

“Police brutality must stop, I do not want to hear or know about it,” he said.

“Whoever is continuously doing it will be suspended and eventually terminated from the police force.

He issued an order to his Mt Hagen police station commander to suspend the policemen who assaulted the two men.

Lakari said this would serve as a warning to other policemen to carry out their duties effectively and respect the rights of the offenders.

“Wearing a blue uniform and armed with police-issued firearms does not mean that you are above the law,” he said. 

“As law enforcers, we must respect our job and carry it out in a professional manner.”

Lakari appealed to the public to report any complaint immediately to police if were wrongfully attack by a police officer while on duty.

He added that these policemen had no place in the police force and would be sent back to their villages.