‘Under-resourced’ police putting minor crimes on the back-burner

POLICE are performing at 30 per cent capacity and expected to produce 100 per cent results, Port Moresby Metropolitan Superintendent Perou N’Dranou says.
He said that every police operation required adequate resources.
“Because we do not have enough resources, we only respond to crimes and offences that impact the safety of the wider communities like rape, robbery, drinking in public places, murder-related cases and car thefts to name a few,” N’Dranou said.
He said there were so many other minor crimes that required police attention, gambling, illegal vending and loitering among them, which they could not attend to.
“In a police station we have four shifts and they cover an area of operation 24/7 so we need a minimum of four vehicles.
“As per the normal structure, we have the police station commander, administration people and the criminal investigation (CID) people in there and areas like community policing which is important as well.”
He said unlike any other government departments, their police stations did not have efficient communication systems.
“We do not have a single computer to make our job easier when collecting crime data.
“We are supposed to be using the internet for communication now. We are still using the radio and most of the times reports reach our bosses 24 hours later, and our officers are still taking reports from complainants manually.”
N’Dranou said because of lack of resources, police had not been performing as expected by the public.
“Yet, politicians could accuse us for not doing our jobs properly. If you give us resources then you can complain,” he said.
“We are working on 30 per cent capacity only. In reality 30 per cent capacity will not provide the best police service.
“So there are many things that need to be put right in a police station.
“We are making do with whatever limited resources we have available, now the people expect us to be disciplined.
“So, this is the dilemma we face with these challenges and the demand for us to perform. Some good policemen continue to maintain their self-discipline. But many, just to satisfy their responsibility and the public demand, they do shortcuts to get them done.
“For example, when a PMV driver commits a traffic offence, they just punch him so that at least he gets some form of deterrent rather than trying to get him and process him because there is difficulty in the station.”