Need to improve police recruitment

THERE is an urgent need to improve the police recruitment programme to tertiary level.
The incident at Raun Wara in Lae last week which resulted in the death of a young Sinasina man from Chimbu, allegedly by police officers, is one that really disqualifies the current policing programme.
Recruiting Grade 12 leavers is the main cause of these problems of police brutality.
This must stop and only those at tertiary level must be recruited.
Lack of education by police officers is one of the major causes of brutality or misconduct.
The inappropriate use of force, now the major police misconduct issue, clerly indicates lack of education.
A qualified person with a good educational background would reason things out and act reasonably.
I agree with former NCD metropolitan commander Benjamin Turi’s point sometime ago on recruiting well-educated people with work experience.
They should be recruited because of their knowledge, skills and experience which would help in better policing to improve the law and order situation in our country.
In addition, six months police recruitment programme is not sufficient to acquire the full knowledge needed by police officers to interpret and enforce laws.
Lawyers undergo training for five years to interpret the Constitution but still have space to fully understand it.

Simon T Bolkun