Kiaps, variously known as district officers and patrol officers, in pre-independence Papua New Guinea were travelling representatives of the British and Australian governments.
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Kiap is a creole version of the German word kapitan.[1]
Soon after the establishment of British New Guinea in the 1880s a system of patrols was established to expand the government's administrative control beyond the major towns. The system continued despite the change from British to Australian administration after the Second World War.[2]
Under Australian administration the kiap was a one-man representative of the government, taking on policing and judicial roles as well as more mundane tasks as completing censuses. The kiaps were commissioned as officers of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary and were appointed districts magistrates.[3][4][5]
During the 1960s the kiap became more of a formal magistrate, moving away from law enforcement.[6]