PICP WAN Newsletter December 2009
Pacific Island Chiefs of Police
Women’s Advisory Network
2009 NEWSLETTER
Message from the Chair:
O le viiga ma le faafetai I lo tatou Atua, e tatau pea ona mua ona sii, aua ua ia faia measilisili mo tatou, i lona alofa faaaliali ua ia aumaia ai le ola ma le malosi, ua mafai ona faataunuuina tofi ma tiute ua tofia ai tatou.
Talofa lava, Malo le soifua laulelei ma le lagi e mama, i le susu a susuga i Komesina o Leoleo i le Pasefika, aemaise le mamalu o Tamaitai o loo galulue i totonu o Matagaluega a Leoleo i le Pasefika atoa. Malo lava le soifua.
It is my pleasure and an honour to share with you all my views in relation to our young but dynamic organisation – The Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Women’s’ Advisory Network.
As your current chair, I am driven by a strong passion “to improve working conditions for all women in pacific policing”. Research has proven that women are being neglected and eventually driven out of policing organisations’ because of the harsh working conditions policing organisations in the Pacific currently offer.
BUT, despite all these, a ray of light is shining through the dark, bringing new hope, strength and direction. That ray of light is You and I (PICP-WAN) who have the passion to overcome all obstacles until we give birth to our vision which is:
“To be recognised as a respected entity which is valued for its contribution to the improvement of policing in the Pacific”
The only key to our success in making this dream come true is in our hands. We must work together to achieve our yearly agreed targets, so we could collectively help each other through the PICP-WAN. Keeping in mind that improved working conditions, bring about beneficial changes for all officers.
Do not be weary or procrastinate in doing good work for the good of all. We have an obligation to women in policing now and the future.
We should not let the future women in policing suffer because we failed to play our role, as the saying goes, “where there is a will, there’s a way” and “all good things come to those who wait” and I believe we have waited for a long time for this to happen so the time for us to ACT is NOW!
Sergeant Siripa Uelese
PICP WAN Chair
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PICP Secretariat Update:
Accountability for WAN
It is my pleasure as the Secretariat Officer and Project Manager of the WAN project to offer my thoughts on the 2009 year that is just about over and to think about 2010 which does not appear to be too far away.
As everyone would be aware the world has gone through and still feeling the effects of the biggest financial recession in decades. Many organisations or companies have folded and no longer exist due to lack of resources or not being able to achieve their goals and have had to close.
In this economic environment we now find ourselves living in, the WAN must also ask the same hard questions of it, as other organisations are having to. Those questions are around value for money and positive outcomes for women in police. It appears to me that we all have to become smarter and more accountable in everything the WAN undertakes, as scrutiny by donors become much more vigilant and their demand for improved change becomes much more focused.
The PICP WAN as a regional organisation has been successful in bringing interested parties together for a conference, it has not however enjoyed the same success in overcoming issues faced by women policing in the Pacific. Do we as the PICP WAN have a clear pathway on how we would achieve this and the time it would take; if no, how do we change that?
What do I think accountability would look like for WAN?
- At the recent WAN conference held in the Cook Islands members were asked to provide their Chiefs/ Commissioners with a report on the conference. Fifteen of the 18 jurisdictions supplied this report. Which in some respects was a milestone given that the previous year no reports (known by the Secretariat) had been forwarded to the Secretariat or the Chiefs. This type of activity has to continue, expand and improve.
- An undertaking by the membership to have Youth Crime Surveys and reports to Chiefs/Commissioners prior to their conference in September resulted in only 5 out of 18 furnishing the appropriate reports. This kind of result will place the WAN as an organisation in jeopardy, as many Chiefs present had to admit they had not received a report and were frustrated. This was an opportunity to impress your Chief and show him the work you were capable of as a group.
So saying that members are going to complete work is one area that needs to be improved. The next is communication.
- Attempts to establish a sister city programme has over the past three years not been successful for varying reasons. One of those is communication between Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand. It is important to the WAN that members of the network communicate with each other about issues that are occurring in jurisdictions. The conference is a place to meet new people and we expect you to keep in touch and help each other out. There is no point in meeting for three days and then not communicating until the next conference.
One of my roles as the Project Manager for WAN, is to be successful in gaining funding for the WAN conference and exchanges. This means providing NZAID with evidence of the work undertaken by members and the standard of that work. The days of coming to a conference and sitting there for two days, collecting per diems and going shopping are gone.
More responsibility for the conference by members needs to be taken and so next year more of you will be asked to present at the conference. After all it is your conference and the Secretariat is merely the facilitator and administrator.
The e mail list that the Secretariat uses to contact WAN members can be used by anyone in the network to communicate with each other.
I look forward to hearing your views on what is the best way to raise our standards and become more accountable to our Donors and indeed police women. We need to discuss how we can, over the next 3 years, make some very marked improvements in our attitudes as WAN members. The Secretariat will be striving for improvement in this time period which will benefit women and Police forces in general around the Pacific.
Dave Potaka
PICP Secretariat
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Tonga Police, Women’s Advisory Network (WAN)
Inaugural Conference.
The Tonga Police Women’s Advisory Network held their first Conference in Nuku’alofa, Tonga on the 22 -23 October 2009. The conference was attended by 58 of the 72 women Police and Civilians in the Tonga Police who as a group have given faithful service to the Tonga Police for over 30 years.
It was an excellent conference that was appreciated by all the delegates and presenters who attended. The Commander of the Tonga Police should be congratulated for his vision and determination to hold this conference especially with the two disasters that he and the Tongan Police have had to deal with over the past few months.
The challenge now for the Tonga WAN is to show leadership both locally and regionally in identifying issues that affect women in policing and ensuring that these issues are not only bought to the attention of the Police Commander but that sustainable solutions are found that will make improvements to the Tonga Police Force and the Tongan Community.
Lau’aitu Po’uli -‘o- Tonga Tupouniua
Assistant Police Commander
Tonga Women’s Advisory Network
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Media
Arresting women
PHOTO
A Samoan women & apos;s advocate says many policeman believe law enforcement work is unsafe for women. [ABC]
Kate McPherson
Last Updated: Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:41:00 +1100
The Samoan chair of a Pacific women’s advocacy group is pushing for more acceptance of women in the region’s police forces.
Siripa Uelese, the chairwoman of the Women’s Advisory Network which is part of the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Secretariat (PICP), is leading the call for policewomen to be given equal opportunities in law enforcement.
She says many policemen believe law enforcement work is unsafe for women.
“But then we have the same skills, we have the same experience and yet we’ve been under-utilised,’ she told Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat program.
She says they should not just be placed in desk jobs if they are capable of performing other roles.
“The policing organisations… are very dominated by men and they have females wanting to come into the policing organisation, [but] they are quite discouraged in the way that they will only be used for secretarial work, you know that kind of job, just sitting behind a desk, and not being able to go out into the field and do investigations,” she said.
The Secretariat Officer of the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police, Dave Potaka, says the role of women in police work needs to be assessed.
“Women are quite capable, and are getting paid the same amount of money as the men are, so there’s no reason why they can’t – they have the same abilities,” he said.
“It’s been pointed out to me that probably the only thing they can’t do is search male prisoners, as men can’t search women prisoners. Otherwise they should be able to do the job exactly the same.”
Inspector Dave Potaka says the Chiefs of Police in the Pacific would benefit from discussions on how to progress opportunities for women.
But he says change will not be quick.
“So the changes that are required are going to be slow, but I think the Women’s Advisory Network can go a long way in advising the chiefs and getting some change.”
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Sister City Initiative:
The results of the sister city survey conducted at the 2009 PICP WAN conference have been collated. The outcomes are as follows:
Contributions were received from 32 delegates from 20 countries including Fiji.
12 of these countries have WAN networks.
Frequency of meetings:
| Weekly/fortnightly | 1 |
| Monthly | 5 |
| Quarterly | 1 |
| Biannually | 4 |
| As required | 1 |
PICP WAN attendance
Assistance already being provided:
Financial assistance for post graduate studies
PRPI – Train the trainers program
COP, Radar, refresher courses
PRPI – Sexual Abuse training
Exchange programs
PRPI – Police Development Program
CMIS training
Interpol General Secretariat set up.
PRPI – United Nations Training
AFP training advisor/development team (Nauru)
NZ Hosting PICP secretariat – providing assistance to PICP & PICP WAN
PICP assistance to attend PICP WAN
Avenues of Assistance identified as beneficial:
Exchange programs
Setting up Networks
Mentoring
Coaching
Practical assistance – Sporting Equipment
Training
Advanced Intelligence Training
Assistance with job applications
Ability for some skilled Delegates to share their knowledge with others
Improving Communication
Specialist Forensic training
Training in Policy, Planning and Procedures
Report Writing Skills
What has been identified since the PICP WAN is that some of these concerns are already being addressed through development programs. Next steps are to follow up on these items with the AFP International Deployment Group (IDG) to establish which are already being delivered through their current programs and proposed future programs.
It has also been identified that some informal sister city arrangements are already in place – these we hope to follow up on and coordinate through PICP Secretariat.
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Recognition:
ACWAP Awards – 2009
Award for Excellence in Policing in the Asia Pacific Region -This award recognises those who have developed or implemented an innovative and flexible solution that has significantly improved policing for women in the Asia Pacific region; and significantly contributed to the improvement of policing outcomes for women in the Asia Pacific region.
Finalists:
Inspector Florence TARO: Royal Solomon Islands Police Force
Florence has shown great dignity, leadership, professionalism, pride, work ethic and compassion to victims of sex offences throughout the Solomon Islands under trying conditions.
Sgt Veronica ARONASAKA: Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.
Veronica truly understands what the community wants from its police service and she delivers ‘on this want’ with much determination, resilience and with such a gentle approach.
Winner:
Det Sgt Tinol PAKIPON – Officer in Charge of the Sexual Offences Squad in Port Moresby, Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary
Tinol is an experienced member with a total of 25 yrs in policing recognised for being an outstanding, passionate and dedicated detective who is respected and is renowned as an expert on sexual offence investigations. Professional, honest, and reliable this member has strived to uphold the law whilst providing a valuable service for victims. In an Australian Government report, the serious problems of violence against women were acknowledged and specifically the unit this member manages, was found to be under resourced, under trained and that the officers working in these sections were given low priority by other police. However the report also found that despite this, women reported receiving better attention from these specialist units than when they had to report to the front desk of a police station.
The unit this member manages has three computers between 10 staff, they are housed in a run down office that does not have proper ventilation let alone enough room to cater for the enormous work load which averages 3 to 4 reported cases of serious sexual assault daily. All interviews are done either by handwritten statements or using the computer if the power is working and they have paper to print on. The member encourages and motivates staff to keep them going even when conditions are overwhelming and hopeless.
On a recent rural trip the member gave other officers hope, support and encouragement. They questioned their ability to do anything for victims, not because they couldn’t do their role but because they were faced with not even having the basic tools to enable them to perform their role. No petrol in their vehicle, no paper to write on, no computers, no camera to record evidence, no private area to speak to victims, and no safe house to take victims to. The member acknowledged their concerns; spoke of similar conditions and provided strategies and guidance on how to remain motivated.
Having investigated hundreds of sexual offences from all levels of society, this member has been recognised previously in 2006 receiving the Law and Justice Sector Award for being the Most Outstanding Police Officer.
His nominee says, ‘To do what he has done for the last 17 years for the women of Papua New Guinea and the victims of Sexual Offences is inspirational. He is a leader in this field and a much needed role model.
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2009 in Review
3 – 4 June 6th PCIP WAN Conference – Cook Islands
May 2009 Commander Chris Kelley Tonga Police
June 2009 Commissioner Maara Tetava Cook Islands Police
29 June 2009 Commissioner Cedric Netto – Nauru Police
July 2009 Commissioner Tipelu Kauani to Tuvalu Police
July 2009 Chief Mark Chenery appointed to Niue Police
August 2009 Commissioner Joshua Bong Vanuatu Police
September 2009 Commissioner Gari Baki New PICP Chair -RPNGC
September 2009 Commissioner Lilomaiava Fou Taioalo to Samoa Police
25-26 July 2009 6th Anniversary of RAMSI – Solomon Islands.
2 – 4 September 38th PICP Conference in Papua New Guinea
22-23 October First Tonga WAN Conference.
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Calendar for 2010
February ACWAP 2010 Awards open.
June PICP WAN meeting Samoa
September PICP Conference in Australia
August ACWAP Awards 2010 – Brisbane, Queensland AUS
29 September Police Remembrance Day
25 November White Ribbon Day - Elimination of Violence Against Women.
