Police chief hails woman for role in taskforce

By JACKLYN SIRIAS
NATIONAL Capital District Metropolitan Superintendent Perou N’Dranou has commended the only female officer in the city’s taskforce unit for her courage to work among male colleagues.
N’Dranou told The National that among 150 officers that signed up last year to join the unit was 25-year-old Lorraine Mark, from West New Britain, Morobe and Central.
“The taskforce was created because we have a structure for a response unit in the National Capital District,” he said.
N’Dranou said he had re-establish it because for the past few years they had not been utilising it.
“Lorraine is the first woman and the only woman in the taskforce team. I thought she would not make it, but she did,” he said.
“She has done well with the males in all the training and is still in the team when males have been eliminated.”
N’Dranou said the focus of the taskforce unit was to create a tactical team that could respond to any major incidents and complaints.
“The idea behind the unit is to have a quick response police unit to respond to calls from the public.”
N’Dranou said he did not just want to get any police officer and make them taskforce officers.
“It was supposed to be a tactical team and that requires officers with qualifications,” he said.
“We started their training eight weeks ago.
“Now we are on the last phase which is selection and by February we should have the team that we wanted.”
“Lorraine was among those 150 officers that applied to join the unit when all other female officers did not,” he said.
“She went through the tough training among her male counterparts and made it through.”
Taskforce unit commander Mark Mosinakave said out of the 150 officers who had signed up, they have eliminated 104 for deviating from orders and have only 46 left in the team.