Police to have 10,000 officers by 2018: Baki

 POLICE Commissioner Gari Baki says the Government expects the constabulary strength to reach 10,000 by 2018.

However, he said that would not be possible when the present recruitment   rate and maintaining the existing work force was maintained.

“We only train 900 recruits at Bomana (Police College in Port Moresby) every year,” he Baki said.

He said regular police members involved in the enforcement of the betel nut ban would be pulled back to perform police functions.

“I have signed a MoU with NCD in the establishment of the NCD police reserve unit to assist in that (enforcement of betel nut ban) so that we can get our regular police members out of the enforcement to continue with their normal duties,” he said.

“I agree that the involvement of regular police in enforcement of betel nut ban stretches our manpower in NCD.”

Speaking during a breakfast in Port Moresby last Wednesday, the commissioner said in the past eight months 64 armed robbery cases were reported in the capital city.

He urged the business community in NCD to take extra precaution and know who they employed in their operations.