Wewak leader defends police

By GABRIEL FITO
A COMMUNITY leader has come to the defence of the police force in the wake of public criticisms on the deteriorating law and order situation.
East Sepik Culture and Sports chairman David Kausik said maintaining law and order was everyone’s business – and should not be left entirely to the police to address.
He was responding to recent outbursts by  community leaders on the local radio station against ineffective policing in town where incidents of petty crimes such as bag-snatching and drunkenness were prevalent.
Kausik, the Turubu local level government president, said people should not point fingers at the police for law and order problems.
It is also their responsibility to solve crime-related problems in their communities.
Petty crimes in town were common but police could not be expected to be everywhere to stop criminals, he said.
Similarly, he said community leaders in villages outside of town must not expect the police to attend to all the problems which they could solve themselves.
Kausik said provincial police commander, Snr Insp Vincent Pokas and Wewak station commander Charles Parinjo were doing a fine job in maintaining law and order.
He said the police deserved praise and support for their efforts, instead of being criticised.
Under their leadership, major crimes have dropped significantly while outstanding cases were tackled head-on with arrests made, Kausik said.
A noticeable achievement was the recent peaceful Christmas and New Year period during which no major crime was reported.
Kausik said despite the political crisis at the national level, the province was enjoying a relatively peaceful environment.