The constabulary played a significant role in resisting the Japanese occupation of New Guinea during World War II.

[5] It was renamed Hiri Motu in the 1970s, due to the connotations of the word "police"[4] and became one of the official languages of Papua New Guinea.

[6] For example, in phase II of the aid project, Australia budgeted A$80 million to deploy 53 full-time officers and materiel support.

The RPNGC faces obstacles in trying to gain the cooperation of PNG communities, which frequently prefer to deal with criminals by themselves using their knowledge based on their customs.

[1] The Constabulary also faces resource constraints (including shortages of such basic supplies as gasoline and stationery) and difficulties with internal discipline.

[13] Amnesty International in a February 1, 2006 letter to then Minister for Internal Security, Bire Kimisopa and then Commissioner of Police, Sam Inguba, claimed to have documented "extensive evidence of members of the RPNGC subjecting women and girls in custody to rape and other forms of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment", as well as requests for sexual favors from female victims before investigating crimes, and suggested additional recruitment of female police officers as a way to address the issue.

For the first time, UNDP published a national homicide rate of 13.0/100,000 in the 2013 Human Development Report, but the origin of this figure is unknown.