Lae residents have been encouraged to report rogue police officers.
Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police for Northern Command, Chris Kunyanban, made this statement after he was advised of an assault on private citizens by a police officer.
On the afternoon of Friday, 16th of February, a company vehicle in Lae was doing drop off when two of its staff were assaulted in the middle of Milfordhaven Road, opposite the Bridgestone Tyres tyre shop.
The incident stemmed from two near collisions between the 15-seater drop-off bus and a blue Nissan single cab along Markham Road, near the Mangola Drive roundabout.
The driver of the blue single cab hurled obscenities at the company vehicle, where one of the female staff responded in kind.
He followed closely behind from Mangola Street, past the main market and turned right towards Malaita St. He blocked them off at the Milfordhaven Road roundabout, next to Hastings Deering.
There, he opened the window where the female staff was sitting and punched her twice in the face. He then moved to the driver's side, opened the door, pulled out the driver and belted him up. All in view of the after-work traffic at Lae’s industrial section.
The staff then went to the Top Town police station to file their complaints, only to find out that the offender was a policeman there. His colleagues intimidated the civilians and even threatened to assault them the second time.
The police officer on duty refused to write the complaint down, instead discouraging the female staff by saying there was an 80 percent chance the magistrate would throw her case out, and would likely instruct her to pay the offender.
When told of the situation, acting Assistant Commissioner of Police for Northern Command, Chris Kunyanban, said if they cannot get help there, residents can always go to his office at the Somu Sigob Haus.
“The office is a public office. We will help anybody, for any matter, regarding these types of issues,” said Kunyanban. “And such allegations, if not entertained by our supervisors, bring it onboard to us and we will see how best we can address this situation.
“And one thing on these types of issues, the public should be reporting those rogue policemen. Not only that, they are taking money from the public. We keep asking the public but they are reluctant to tell us what is happening or give us a statement on that issue. So, if you do not report it, we are encouraging those policemen to keep on doing the wrong thing.
“And the public will come and complain again to us.”