Police prepare for coming elections

Police in the Northern Command are preparing for the coming national elections with a series of meetings.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Peter Guinness hosted the meeting in Ramu for his four provincial commands, namely metropolitan superintendent Lae, Morobe, Madang and Eastern Highlands.

He says while they focus on the election next year, their command's planning starts this month rather than just before the elections.

"I have gathered all my Provincial Police Commanders and Police Station Commanders as well as the line managers to plan for our election operations next year,” says ACP Guiness.

"We have a mammoth task ahead in planning as we have a large area to cover in terms of landmass and population and we need to strategically position ourselves to see the elections through, " he said this while opening the meeting in Ramu last week.

Guinness, who is also the Divisional Commander for the Northern Command, said their planning follows that of the Commissioner of Police's intent to assist the Electoral Commission in securing a safe and free election.

He also said such elections are the functions and roles of the Electoral Commission. However, the police is forced to assist the EC due to the general PNG mentality and culture.

The two-day meeting closed on Friday.

Author: 
Bustin Anzu