Deputy Commissioner of Police Special Operation Donald Yamasombi said the Police Dog Unit is a vibrant police operational unit in Papua New Guinea.
Mr Yamasombi said this recently as the reviewing officer at the Dog Unit Directorate’s first parade for the year 2023.
He was pleased with the turnout and the parade by the members of the Dog Unit. He said the Dog Unit Directorate is a special directorate in the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary that has done many good things in many police operations.
He further said, going forward, the members must find ways to upgrade the directorate and roll the unit out into other provinces as well where it is not operating at the moment. Currently, there are Dog Unit facilities in Port Moresby and Lae and only a few other towns in the country.
The dogs that are trained by the handlers at the Bomana Dog Unit Base perform different roles. Some are trained for general policing duties, while others are trained to sniff for drugs and explosives.
Mr Yamasombi was accompanied by officers from the Australian Federal Police and the recently appointed Director of the Dog Unit, acting Superintendent Daniel Yangen.
Mr Yamasombi was pleased with the demonstrations done by selected dogs from the three different groups. DCP Yamasombi also told the officers that to upgrade the facilities they will need to work closely with the Australian Federal Police.
Mr Yamasombi also challenged the officers to make sure that their dogs are attentive and responsive to their commands.
DCP Yamasombi added that going forward, there will be more community engagement programs in which the dog unit officers will be conducting awareness among the communities in the city and also participate in road shows with their dogs. He said that doing that would attract other agencies to come and partner with the police when doing operations around the city.
Director Dog, Mr Yangen, said he is looking forward to working with the police officers in the directorate. He is looking forward to helping transform the directorate. He said the Dog Unit Directorate is one of the best-performing directorates in the country.
