Enforcing community policing in settlements, districts and villages will help address law and order in the country.
Community policing coordinator reserve senior constable associate, Joseph Baiau, said law and order must be firstly addressed at the community level.
As a community policing coordinator in Musa Community at ATS settlement in Port Moresby, Baiau is a strong advocate of helping youths turn away from the bad habit of criminal activities.
Baiau said law and order must be addressed, starting from the provinces down to the village level.
He explained that even though there is a mixture of people living in a community, especially a settlement, they need to live in their respective ethnic groups so they can be easily identified.
Baiau does community policing in the Oro Block of ATS settlement with seven ethnic groups.
He said it is good to involve ethnic groups and their leaders to engage youths in positive activities, like sports, to help tackle law and order.
“We will be able to identify criminals if we want to solve the problem in the community,” he said.
“By addressing the issue at the community level, it will be solved easily because when we have an influx of people living in a community, it’s hard for us to control.
“Sometimes when police are there to apprehend suspects involved in crime, it’s hard to identify them when they live in a mixture of ethnic groups,” he said.
Baiau added that the Government should focus on law and order in the communities.
He said members of parliament must work together with community leaders to address law and order in their electorates before they address the issue at the national level.