New database system for police arrests in Madang
Madang Provincial Police Commander Superintendent, Robert Baim has instructed all sector heads under his command to start creating a data base system that will keep track of all officers and the number of arrests they make until they go to court.
He is taking this measure as concerns mount on the increasing number of police arrests that are not being presented in court because they get tampered with along the way within the system.
The database system will keep track of all officers under his command to make sure they do arrests, which is the main task that police officers are trained for.
Superintendent Baim highlights that one main reason some cases do not make it to court is the fact that some policemen and women are commercializing arrests.
He notes this practice has been going on for some time, and PPC East Sepik has also come out against it recently.
Superintendent Baim says this practice has stopped a lot of cases from going before the courts, causing injustice to complainants.
"The arrest is becoming like a commercial thing now; meaning that when someone does an arrest, brings in the suspect to the police station, and starts preparing court files, then when it goes to court, someone comes at the back and some things go wrong and the arrest is being forgotten while the suspect is released from the court or custody.
"When you start commercializing arrests, the rate of arrests drops.
"This makes way for compensation and wantokism. Police officers receive incentives or money, and they release the suspects, sometimes without the knowledge of the arresting officer. These are things I am very, very concerned with," PPC Baim said.
Baim hopes the database system will help crack down on this practice.
"With the database in place, every officer has to do arrests, and how far they've gone, OIC Prosecution will come up with the outcome of the arrest so that we can always follow up. This is to make sure that every policeman and woman in my command do arrests, and the outcomes are determined by the courts," he said.
PPC Baim said it is the responsibility of the OIC Prosecution to update arresting officers on the progress of individual cases that are presented in court.
Meanwhile, the PPC is concerned about the general discipline within the Madang command.
He said most of the disciplinary matters last year were in-house issues and most have been already addressed.
"They have picked up well at the beginning of this year, and I commend my officers for that. I am hoping we can maintain this throughout 2026," Baim said.