LAE POLICE - From Fighting Brutality Cases to Becoming a Respected Force
I woke up on January 1st 2015 in the mountains of Buang, Morobe province to the tone of my mobile phone messenger. Where are you? the first message reads as I was told of a woman being killed during a high speed car chase in Lae city on New Year morning.
I came back to Lae and headed straight home to take some considerable rest before I head out to get a police brief on the incident.
To cut the long story short, the police force was already spending millions on police brutality cases and Lae police are no exception. I was caught in the middle of confusion whether to believe what relatives of the deceased are telling me or to follow on police reports.
The usual blame game continues as Lae police were given the ear-bashing on social media and countless keyboard warriors were already pointing their five fingers to the cops questioning their rules of engagement.
Lae police were also labelled as five kina police for their roles in getting bribery to carry out evictions and other jobs outside of their line of duty.
In October 2015, the same month I joined the National Broadcasting Corporation, then East New Britain PPC Anthony Wagambie Jnr was appointed to head the Lae Police. Wagambie arrived in Lae with a whole new concept of getting his house in order and to restore public confidence in the constabulary.
Wagambie grew up and went to school in Lae and he is one of the typical "Mangi Lae" who is now taking the bull by it's horns.
Chief Superintendent Wagambie together with the support of another "Mangi Lae" John Rosso, police personnel were given firearms training. Chief Sergeant John Rosso heads the Romeo 14 Reserve police unit and as local businessman he supports the work of police in Lae.
Lae police under Wagambie were heading for change in the way their policing duties are carried out. It was more practical than the guns and uniform policing that brought the constabulary into disrepute.
In 2016, there were a lot of challenges for Lae police. Armed robberies, car jacking, murders and ethnic clashes have all put their abilities to test. Given the backlog of problems police face with logistics, manpower and community support, they went out to prove the people wrong.
The UNITECH boycott was one of the Lae police's successful operation which was conducted peacefully without confrontations with students. The burning down of vehicles and buildings inside the campus didn't prompt any reactions from police as they main restraint throughout the course of the boycott. Police listened to the UNITECH Students Representative Council and maintain presence outside the campus, until a student was killed and several others were injured.
Police were then applauded for maintaining restraint and prevented more problems from erupting during the height of the boycott.
A major prison escape from Buimo and a string of armed robberies that follows really put the Lae police to test. Imagine having two armed robberies in a week and all were well planned and executed. Police were outnumbered and could not be at two places at one time.
A supermarket and a leading hotel in the city were robbed within the same hour. Police were involved in a car chase and shootout with the criminals. One week later, another set of businesses were robbed leaving police with little or no clues of their trails.
A couple of weeks later, police intelligence led them to the criminal hideout and several suspects were shot and apprehended. High powered weapons used in the robberies were confiscated and the media was there to report on this raid.
Police continue with their strategies to counter criminal elements and soon all ring leaders of the crimes in the city were apprehended, shot and even killed by police.
This Christmas and New Year operations was the quietest ever in Lae city. Celebrations were done within the confinements of family homes ad there were no major occurrences being reported. Police were out in full force and were everywhere to contain situations getting out of hand.
It has been a year since a policeman was convicted for unlawful shooting causing death on January 2015 and the police force in Lae has taken a whole new approach in policing duties. It was evident in their festive operations with no major crime being reported.
Criminal elements may not be decreasing, but Lae Police have became a force to reckon under the guidance and leadership of Wagambie Jnr.
All in all it needs community support to make policing become more effective.
I came back to Lae and headed straight home to take some considerable rest before I head out to get a police brief on the incident.
To cut the long story short, the police force was already spending millions on police brutality cases and Lae police are no exception. I was caught in the middle of confusion whether to believe what relatives of the deceased are telling me or to follow on police reports.
The usual blame game continues as Lae police were given the ear-bashing on social media and countless keyboard warriors were already pointing their five fingers to the cops questioning their rules of engagement.
Lae police were also labelled as five kina police for their roles in getting bribery to carry out evictions and other jobs outside of their line of duty.
In October 2015, the same month I joined the National Broadcasting Corporation, then East New Britain PPC Anthony Wagambie Jnr was appointed to head the Lae Police. Wagambie arrived in Lae with a whole new concept of getting his house in order and to restore public confidence in the constabulary.
Wagambie grew up and went to school in Lae and he is one of the typical "Mangi Lae" who is now taking the bull by it's horns.
Chief Superintendent Wagambie together with the support of another "Mangi Lae" John Rosso, police personnel were given firearms training. Chief Sergeant John Rosso heads the Romeo 14 Reserve police unit and as local businessman he supports the work of police in Lae.
Lae police under Wagambie were heading for change in the way their policing duties are carried out. It was more practical than the guns and uniform policing that brought the constabulary into disrepute.
In 2016, there were a lot of challenges for Lae police. Armed robberies, car jacking, murders and ethnic clashes have all put their abilities to test. Given the backlog of problems police face with logistics, manpower and community support, they went out to prove the people wrong.
The UNITECH boycott was one of the Lae police's successful operation which was conducted peacefully without confrontations with students. The burning down of vehicles and buildings inside the campus didn't prompt any reactions from police as they main restraint throughout the course of the boycott. Police listened to the UNITECH Students Representative Council and maintain presence outside the campus, until a student was killed and several others were injured.
Police were then applauded for maintaining restraint and prevented more problems from erupting during the height of the boycott.
A major prison escape from Buimo and a string of armed robberies that follows really put the Lae police to test. Imagine having two armed robberies in a week and all were well planned and executed. Police were outnumbered and could not be at two places at one time.
A supermarket and a leading hotel in the city were robbed within the same hour. Police were involved in a car chase and shootout with the criminals. One week later, another set of businesses were robbed leaving police with little or no clues of their trails.
A couple of weeks later, police intelligence led them to the criminal hideout and several suspects were shot and apprehended. High powered weapons used in the robberies were confiscated and the media was there to report on this raid.
Police continue with their strategies to counter criminal elements and soon all ring leaders of the crimes in the city were apprehended, shot and even killed by police.
This Christmas and New Year operations was the quietest ever in Lae city. Celebrations were done within the confinements of family homes ad there were no major occurrences being reported. Police were out in full force and were everywhere to contain situations getting out of hand.
It has been a year since a policeman was convicted for unlawful shooting causing death on January 2015 and the police force in Lae has taken a whole new approach in policing duties. It was evident in their festive operations with no major crime being reported.
Criminal elements may not be decreasing, but Lae Police have became a force to reckon under the guidance and leadership of Wagambie Jnr.
All in all it needs community support to make policing become more effective.
They have the respect and they deserve it. keep up the good and professional job Lae police. The community and business houses should support more.
ReplyDeleteWe need of such officers.
ReplyDeleteMr Wagambie has gained people's respect, not just in Lae but all around PNG!
I salute all the officers.
Why is he not a candidate for the police commissioner post?
ReplyDelete