Transcript
GEORGE BAYAGAU: My command has suffered a manpower situation. And manpower is one of the things that I continue to face. So yes I have the ATU (Police Air Tactical Unit) here with me, and more will be coming. So we will be having a good build-up of manpower on the ground. Tommy Baker and his gang, over the time he has built up in terms of arms, and he has brought in a huge (following) within the town area, town boundary area and outer areas of town, who have joined him as part of the group in torturing the town and bringing fear to the people, the whole province as well.
JOHNNY BLADES: You must have your intelligence sources throughout the province. Do you have an idea where he is?
GB: You're correct, I have intel sources on the ground. This man (Baker) has come over the years and people know him. They can be saying he's here, but he may not be here; or he's out there, he may not be out there somewhere. We confirmed that he is still within Alotau town. He's the one responsible for what happened on Wednesday last week (when police houses were torched, a supermarket raided and an ATM stolen). And he remains. For me, he cannot leave the province because I have done everything possible, we have covered the Central Province / Milne Bay border, and the Oro / Milne Bay border, and we have done so. For him to try and leave the location where he is now would be difficult for him.
JB: He seems to be a bit of a folk hero to some people in Milne Bay. Do you think he is tapping into anti-police sentiment?
GB: Yes. You can see he has been held in custody, then escaped from custody. And he becomes very aggressive and, you know, comes against the law, especially the police. He has no care for that. And he wants to attack police in that way. whatever he does, he's telling the people that 'I am not here for you, but I am here for the policemen. I want to see the policemen and I want to attack them'.
JB: And he has attacked the police, hasn't he. In the last few months there's been all these attacks. Do you think the incident where the police vehicle ran over and killed the mother and her child, the police contingent en route to Port Moresby for APEC, there was that (accident), so do you think that started to intensify feelings against the police?
GB: Well, actually when he escaped, he returned back to the province, and he has this intention to fulfil what he thinks police have dealt with him. And that has sparked off the whole thing, when the police were involved in the vehicle accident, and he was right in there with the people. he's done everything possible using the community, the public, and he attacked the police.
JB: Do you think the police have lost the trust of the public? Because if the public is not helping you capture him, Tommy Baker, maybe there's a trust issue.
GB: You're correct. I cannot say much on it. But what has happened over the years up until now, it's a clear indication that confidence in police for the public is not there. Therefore we're facing a lot of situations here. Now this Tommy Baker man, his actions and his going about his life, it's touched many people, people both in high office, business and down to (grassroots). So he is confident he can move around. So who knows? People out there may have connected with him. So he may be using that advantage to move around and do anything. I will say here, when he escaped, all that is suspicious now. And this time he has escaped from Port Moresby, so you can see he can tie strings with the security agents, that is the police or the Corrections Service or who ever it will be. So he is using that advantage so he is becoming more powerful and all that.
