Officer raises concerns over security for prosecution team

By KELVIN JOE
A LACK of prosecution officers in Mt Hagen has prompted officer-in-charge Chief Insp Matthew Makure to call on the hierarchy to ensure more manpower is secured to take the prosecution team forward in terms of work and cases.
Chief Insp Makuri said there were fewer prosecutors to provide an effective service than those in other departments such as the mobile squad.
“There is a lack of security in the court house during hearings because manpower is not enough,” he said.
Chief Insp Makuri said new recruits were not interested in joining the prosecution division which needed a new structure and standard for recruitment. “If big centres such as Mt Hagen are facing challenges with manpower issues, then, it will be no different for other centres throughout the country.”
He said new recruits were searching for “greener pastures” such as allowances, promotion and fortnightly increment that has resulted in low interest in joining the division.
“They don’t want to be in a section where you can only rely on fortnightly pay,” Chief Insp Makuri said.
“Put out the uniform criteria during recruitment and considering their educational background, communication skills and ability to record cases and statements appropriately.”
He said almost half of the prosecutors in Mt Hagen were women and they could not deal with security issues easily as they struggled to escort detainees and offenders from one destination to another.
“We need more men to escort prisoners from the jails and police stations to the court houses and back,” he said.
Chief Insp Makuri said prosecution officers had to be well trained.