Officers of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) National Response Department (NRD) will now be able to maintain and repair all Penn Arms 40 mm launchers following the completion of a training course held in Australia recently.
“We are very fortunate that two of our officers, Constables Philip Da’agi and Peter Diudi successfully completed the training held in Melbourne, Australia. They are now certified to maintain all Penn Arms 40 mm launchers both single shot and multi launchers,” says Director of NRD, Superintendent Stanley Riolo.
Superintendent Riolo explains: “The weapon system is used for Police Response Team (PRT) operators to launch gas, smoke and illumination rounds.”
He adds: “The RSIPF has never had the benefit of this training before and it allows sustainability for weapon repair and maintenance.”
The training was attended by Federal and State Police Armourers from throughout Australia with the instructor from the United States company that manufactures the weapon system.
Commissioner of Police, Matthew Varley officially congratulated the two NRD officers and presented their completion certificates during a ceremony at the Rove Police Headquarters in Honiara.