After a much needed break over the festive period, Commissioner of Police David Manning has retaken the helm of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) and is ready to steer the force into a brighter future.
The Commissioner outlined 3 key areas the RPNGC’s plans moving forward into the year, adding that 2023 will be a very busy year for the force.
These include; Growing and improving the RPNGC, Building a safer Papua New Guinea and Strengthening Partnership in Governance and Accountability.
He said these areas have been an ongoing challenges for the force and they are very much Legacy challenges and he along with his executive have been working tirelessly to tackle since their appointment.
In his first order of business back, Manning says they will be looking to grow the number of Probationary constables of the force including 30 constables for the Bougainville Police Service and increase the number of Commissioned officers by 60.
“We have placed the Reservist Recruitment under new governance and be looking to evolve the accommodation policy to encourage good performance.”
Manning also stated that they will be looking to expand on the use of force options available to police, this will see the RPNGC look to acquire equipment such as Handcuffs, Batons, Ammunition and less lethal Rounds.
The outcome for the second focus area in which the RPNGC will be looking to implement will see police commands around the country include and operate Emergency Response Help Line and a General Enquiries Line, where they hope to see emergency response to any situation being significantly reduced.
Manning says better practices and training across frontline policing with enhancing evidence gathering and investigations to support prosecutions will be key things they will need to improve on.
“We are aware of their current performance rate in terms of securing convictions in this area, this is only half the job and look to improve.”