Top cop highlights need

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
THE Police Forensic Service is incapable of providing scientific evidence to help secure convictions in the courts, officer in-charge Chief Supt Philip Rambaliku says.
“Forensic services are the foundation of a successful investigation that enables a detective and prosecutor to have a successful rate in securing convictions,” he said.
“Without our services, detectives and prosecutors are hapless before the courts given that we now have educated lawyers defending suspects.”
Chief Supt Rambaliku said to win back public confidence, the police had to improve knowledge, skills and attitude in attending a crime scene, preservation, examination, documentation and connecting offenders to the crime scene by scientific analysis and examination of evidence and exhibits to provide conclusive evidences before the court.
“Now that is lacking in our ability to secure convictions before the courts and that is the most crucial area,” he said.
“The Police Department must urgently set strategies and put money to build up the capability of the scientific section such as biology, pathology, crime scene, documents examination, fingerprints, ballistics, photography and quality control section at Gordon in Port Moresby and the three regional centres in Kokopo, Lae and Mt Hagen .
“We need to recruit more specialists, build more infrastructures, provide more logistics and purchase more scientific equipment to improve detection of crime in the country.”