Madang police doing their best: PPC

POLICE are doing their job in cracking down on serious crime in Madang province given the limited resources, provincial police boss Chief Insp Anthony Wagambie Jr said yesterday.
Chief Insp Wagambie reinforced this by providing police crime statistics for the first half of this year, which showed a large number of  criminals suspected of major crimes arrested by police in a special operation launched early this year.
According to the statistics, more than 22 hardcore prime suspects were apprehended during the operation.
Chief Insp Wagambie said that although police lacked resources, they were able to hunt down most of the criminals and commended his men, particularly the rapid response unit which collaborated well with the criminal investigation division during the operation.
He said that those arrested had been charged, convicted and jailed for various offences for terms ranging from four to 20 years.
Chief Insp Wagambie said two of the convicts were repeated offenders and escapees who were shot in the leg and wounded while trying escape.
According to police records, more than 10  suspects were involved in armed robberies, five murders, three rapes and other serious crimes.
Chief Insp Wagambie said many of most of those arrested were from the settlements and most of the crimes were committed near those settlements, while few were committed in town.
He said many more people were arrested in relation to other traffic offences and minor cases.