Duty calls for two police officers with other members of the Mt. Hagen Mobile Squad 6 (MS 6), taking them out of the Tambul area in the Western Highlands Province to provide security for the 2017 National Election in Enga province.
Obedience to the call, constables Glenn Jimmy, Alex Kopa and team, served in Enga for weeks until fate met them at the front gate of My Kids Inn, Sangurap Residential area on the morning of Saturday, July 22, 2017.
The coming of a new day saw these officers prepared to tackle the struggles of the day which included the heat, crowd control, monitoring of the counting area, officials and unexpected events.
Little to their knowledge was that, that would be a particularly somber day for the Mt Hagen’s Mobile Squad 6 and the Royal Constabulary of Papua New Guinea (RPNGC).
Walking out of their camp that morning, Constables Glen Jimmy and Alex Kopa, along with their colleague Constable Mathew Kassap were met with spraying bullets from high powered M16 rifles from fellow Papua New Guineans who did not care for causalities.
The two gunmen were shot after MS 6 members reacted quickly to the situation, unfortunately, when rushed to Wabag General Hospital Emergency Unit for initial treatment before medevaced to Port Moresby, Constables Jimmy and Kopa died leaving Kasap fighting for his life in a hospital in Port Moresby.
The family of late Constable Glenn Jimmy are left with the memories of what life used to be when they had their son. But who was Glenn Jimmy and how should we remember him?
Glenn Jimmy, from the Tongai Tribe, Menspi Clan, a small village of Panjin, was the eldest of three siblings.
Jimmy, a Christian, was a person of recommendable character to those who knew him, a leader and God-fearing man.
He was the TSCF president during his time at the Goroka Technical College (2013-2014) prior to joining the RPNGC and was an outstanding young man who had lifted the RPNGC flag throughout his career.
Jimmy, whose Facebook name is Orpal Gepinz Kang showed true patriotism in what he does when he made his final post on Facebook and we quote:
“Being a cop it’s not a mistake, no matter what I will always be the servant to the public….if you asleep I’m awake thinking of your wealth for 2moro….and when you enjoying with your loved ones, I’m standing static guard to your properties (boxes) in any weather conditions…no matter how u criticizes us, I will still give the best to serve my citizens of the nation PNG until I leave…I’m 4 U PNG & die as PNG.”
Jimmy’s testimony in the line of duty stands out and shared by many of his colleagues and once shared by a Facebook user, Ruth Jewels Kissam some months ago (December 6, 2016, Mount Hagen) before his tragic death.
“I was driving back to Hagen from Enga late yesterday, and came up to a Police roadblock a little past Tambul junction.” Kissam updated her Facebook status on Tuesday 6 December 2016.
“There were a good number of policemen there and one of them, a young, smartly dressed, a white-smile man asked for my license,” Kissam recalled that the other cop checked the registration of her vehicle only to find out that the safety sticker had expired, which she had no idea of when she picked up the vehicle. The young cop charged her K50 for the defective safety sticker which she agreed to pay.
“I rummaged through my bag only to find K30. I looked at the young man and held up K30 and said to pay the K20 in Hagen but this, smart, handsome, cop looked at me and said he can’t get my K30 because it’s not K50 that they charge, and can’t come to Hagen because their boundaries stop at Paiakona.” Kissam stated.
“If I do your TN then I’ll be 20 short, but if I get your 30 without a receipt, then I will steal from you. So no, If you don’t have the full amount, I won’t take anything less. Go and fix your safety sticker in Hagen. We’re sick and tired of the attitude of getting money from traffic infringement without receipting it.” she reiterated Glenn’s statement.
“I had to ask for his name and he said, Glen, so Glen from Tambul Police Station, PNG has hope because of you and others like you. Young Papua New Guineans who are sick of double standards and can’t wait to charter a better course for this country. I’ve never been so inspired, challenged and hopeful as I was yesterday. Thank you Glen of Tambul Police Station. God bless you.”
Jimmy leaves behind his 2 year old son, Simon, dear wife Hadassah who is also four months pregnant, and his grieving parents and relatives.
1 comment
Very touching story. Thank you EMTV!