{"id":15074,"date":"2014-08-06T12:15:07","date_gmt":"2014-08-06T02:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=15074"},"modified":"2014-08-07T11:24:04","modified_gmt":"2014-08-07T01:24:04","slug":"helping-outside-the-spotlight-the-afp-mission-in-png-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/helping-outside-the-spotlight-the-afp-mission-in-png-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping outside the spotlight: the AFP mission in PNG"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Police<\/a><\/p>\n

While the nation\u2019s attention is on the difficult operation being undertaken by Australian Federal Police officers in the Ukraine, it\u2019s worth reflecting on the other major international missions that our police are performing overseas today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those missions usually bubble along without much attention\u2014which is good in a way, but the work deserves more than that.<\/p>\n

Karl Claxton and I have recently spent two weeks with such a mission in Papua New Guinea. Around 50 additional AFP officers from the International Deployment Group were deployed here late last year<\/a>, and they\u2019re now working in front-line policing positions with their counterparts in the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) as advisors, mentors and planners.<\/p>\n

Prime Ministers Rudd and O\u2019Neill conceived the AFP\u2019s current mission\u2014an extension of a program running since 2008\u2014in July 2013<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Naturally, there\u2019s something in the enhanced arrangement for both sides. For PNG, it\u2019s visible action against crime\u2014a priority for their government. For Australia, it\u2019s about long-term engagement in a country of particular importance to its interests\u2014and the small matter of an immigration-detention facility on Manus Island.<\/p>\n

Regardless whether that facility is required into the future, there\u2019s certainly going to be a need to attend to our core interests for a long time to come.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the challenges<\/a> faced by police in PNG are systemic, formidable and confronting<\/a>\u00a0(PDF). But key officers in the RPNGC know this, and they\u2019ve told us of their desire to become more effective.<\/p>\n

The Commissioner, along with the senior officers and officials interviewed for this project, uniformly singled out the need for improved police discipline early in our discussions. They explained that their constables lack some of the basic skills and equipment required for community policing and investigations. They want to improve their relationships with the community. They want to see corruption beaten, and they want to be part of that challenge. Those we\u2019ve met are also all supportive of the AFP\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n

The RPNGC demonstrate a willingness to embrace new innovations. One example is a new cell-management system in PNG\u2019s second largest city Lae, which has been built with some AFP funding and support from the local university. It\u2019s a testament to what can be done. I met the constable managing it, Nimrod, during my visit to the Lae Metro Police Station last week. He uses the system with ease and he\u2019s clearly proud of it. So AFP efforts are having an effect\u2014but the depth and sustainability of that effect is hard to estimate at present.<\/p>\n

Managing expectations is another challenge for the AFP mission: the expat community longs for responses to crimes against their businesses; all families want violence reduced; and locals want the excesses of their countrymen\u2014whether police or civilian\u2014brought under control.<\/p>\n

But the AFP has neither the mandate nor numbers to address all of those community concerns in the short term. That\u2019s undoubtedly a source of frustration for all, but that\u2019s the reality. The AFP don\u2019t have executive powers here\u2014they can\u2019t make arrests or direct RPNGC officers\u2014due to a 2005 PNG Supreme Court case that ruled aspects of an earlier police partnership unconstitutional<\/a>\u00a0(PDF). They advise, influence and provide material support where they can. The early indicators of the AFP\u2019s impact are positive, although definitive metrics are hard to provide, and there are several areas where modest additional effort appear likely to yield large benefits.<\/p>\n

Based on our research, Karl and I will now produce a report on the future of AFP\u2019s cooperation and engagement in PNG. We don\u2019t intend to evaluate the current operation\u2014we don\u2019t have the data or resources. Instead, we want to think hard about the trajectory of the crime and order situation in PNG, and how that\u2019s going to challenge PNG and Australian interests over the next 5\u201310 years. From what we\u2019ve seen over the last two weeks, meeting that challenge and returning PNG\u2019s situation to a positive long-term trend will require a sustained commitment and constant reassessment of the mission and its resources. But more on that later.<\/p>\n

David Connery is a senior analyst at ASPI. Image courtesy of Flickr user Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade<\/a>.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the nation\u2019s attention is on the difficult operation being undertaken by Australian Federal Police officers in the Ukraine, it\u2019s worth reflecting on the other major international missions that our police are performing overseas today. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":15083,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[528,316,357,821],"class_list":["post-15074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia-and-its-region","tag-australian-federal-police","tag-law-enforcement","tag-papua-new-guinea","tag-security-cooperation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHelping outside the spotlight: the AFP mission in PNG | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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