A first of its kind mobilization meet for police prosecutors around the country will be conducted in the coming months within the Royal PNG Constabulary.
The purpose of the meet is to gather officers who prosecute cases in the District court to highlight their challenges and how the constabulary can assist in making their roles more effective.
Police prosecutors are responsible for prosecuting criminal cases that come before the District Courts.
Under resourced, over worked and under trained for some, they prosecute bulk of the criminal cases in the lower courts.
A first of its kind mobilizing meeting was held in Port Moresby on Wednesday, which gave an avenue to highlight those challenges they face and how the force can address them.
Director of Prosecutions, Jimmy Onopia says the directorate has not seen any new recruits join and with the ageing workforce, they hope incentives can be created to attract officers to the directorate.
Upskill training at the University of Papua New Guinea, particularly with Diploma in Prosecution training will have to be prioritized to members of the directorate, he adds.
Chief Superintendent Onopia also wants to see office infrastructure his officers work in be improved in the future.
The meet will also assist in the review of a restructure in the directorate, which they hope will come with better working conditions and resources for police prosecutors.
Chief Sergeant Polon Koniu has been a prosecutor for over 33 years in NCD. He says logistics and transport remains the biggest challenge for them, even in the nation’s capital.