Report by Police Media Officer Kari Totona.
Policewoman First Constable Jessica Tautau has topped a six-week detective training program in Port Moresby by taking out the dux award.
The detective training program (DTP) was held at the Bomana Police Training College (BPTC) in Port Moresby. One of her male colleagues, First Constable Peter Aikel, took out the leadership award.
Both were among 20 participants of the second batch of the DTP who concluded an intense theory and practical training on the best practices of being a detective. They received their certificates on Friday November 4, 2022.
The batch comprised mostly of Criminal Investigations Division (CID) section personnel from NCD, Central, Lae and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
Throughout the six-weeks training they were placed into four syndicates which comprised five participants in each syndicate.
Trainer, Detective Sergeant Ronah Lemek, said the DTP is intended for CID investigators out in the field to have better knowledge and skills in doing their job more efficiently and professionally.
“The Purpose of the training is to equip the investigators in the CID section to have the best skills and practises so that they can be able to investigate CID cases and criminal offences out in their various stations,” she said.
Some of the topics that were discussed in the training included:
· The qualities of being an investigator – Understand who they are, and what is expected of them so they become good police officers;
· Homicide, sexual offences, robbery, breaking offences – understanding the law, what it means and how Police can do their jobs in terms of the elements of the offences;
· Elements of Offences;
· Process of interviewing suspects and placing the correct charges; and
· Search warrants and the Peace model.
Detective Sergeant Lemek said the participants are selected through their Officer in Charge (OIC) at the station level. As for the outside provinces, they are selected from their OICs to their Provincial Police Commanders and they send their name list through Detective Training school.
“As trainers our goal is to make sure that the participants understand what we are teaching. We also have practicals to ensure they understand the topics discussed during class. Because when they go out there, they must put into practise what they are taught, “Detective Sergeant Lemek said.
The second batch of participants started on September 26 and represent their sections from fraud, arm robbery, general CID squad, Break in Squad, Sexual offences and the administration.
The DTP is funded and supported by the Australian Federal Police since 2018 and until recently in 2021 the Bomana Centre for Excellence has fully taken over instructional duties in successfully delivering in-service training programs.
Detective Sergeant Lemek thanked the Australian Federal Police for its assistance to date.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Hillary Rigamu of the Bougainville Police Service said he was happy to be a part of the program and encouraged his colleagues to also attend such training if the opportunity was given.
Sgt Rigamu is attached with the National Criminal Intelligence (NCI) in which they also carry out duties of transnational crimes duties and national criminal records.
He said this training has helped equip him with better understanding on identifying evidence, digging deeper into evidence, working together as a team and following the correct procedures when investigating.
He says this training will have a big impact on his career as a police officer and investigator and the BPS as a whole.
“I’m privileged and very happy to be attending this training as an investigator and I hope I will get the support when I return, especially with our management in terms of logistics, stationeries and office equipment to help us carry on with our duties,” he said.
Meanwhile, Inspector Leonie Simon is one of the female participants out of the four females. She serves as the admin officer attached with CID Boroko and has an investigative background which prompted her to take up the training.
“As for me as an officer at that management level, I see that there are things we miss out when we are supervising our members down on the operations side of things,” she said.
She thanked the trainers for breaking the topics to the simplest form where it is understood and absorbed, and hoped more trainers could be engaged for future training to lessen the workload on the current trainers.
She said, “When I was accepted among the other ranks, I was so happy to be considered. Even being an officer, you have to come down to the training and utilise them to the best of your ability. This is going to help me in my field of experience and also being an admin officer at least I can get to check the court files and make sure members are supervised well.”
(Pictures by Media Officer Adrian Patipa & Detective First Constable Maria Nombri.)