Crime in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is officially known as the Independent State of Papua New Guinea after gaining absolute independence from Australia on September 16, 1975. PNG is the largest country in the South Pacific region and comprises the eastern side of New Guinea including its islands. Crime in Papua New Guinea, both violent and non-violent have contributed to the developing country's crime rate being one of the highest in the world.

Crime throughout the country, particularly violence-related, has been influenced mainly by rapid social, political and economic changes. An increased rate of unemployment has resulted in poverty in rural areas, while a sequential shift towards urban areas has created cultural friction. This has become a long-term concern hindering the growth of the economy. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s liveability index, Papua New Guinea ranks 136th out of 140 countries as of 2017, indicating that many aspects of living in the country are relatively unsecure.

The centralised geographical location of Papua New Guinea has also seen the rise of non-violent, organised crime; specifically, corruption contributing substantially to increased crime statistics within the major cities of Port Moresby, Mt Hagen, Lae and Goroka. The geographically appealing qualities of Papua New Guinea and its surrounding islands also promotes illegal drug and human trafficking as critical issues.

Crime prevention and law enforcement services in Papua New Guinea lie primarily in the hands of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC); however, local police services are typically unreliable. The RPNGC is a government organisation led by the Police Commissioner and is responsible for the national police force, thus, holds power throughout the country. However, strategies to combat crime are largely influenced by the corruption of state officials.
Q691
Papua New Guinea
LOC
Q408
Australia
LOC
Q7374681
Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC)
ORG
Q85845745
Crime in Papua New Guinea
UNK
1975-09-16T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
September 16, 1975
DATE
2017-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2017
DATE
shares border with
diplomatic relation