Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police

About Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police (PICP)

Origins

The South Pacific Chiefs of Police Conference (SPCPC) was founded in 1970 when representatives of seven Pacific Island countries met in Fiji. The organisation changed its name to Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police (PICP) in 2005. Palau is the current host country.

Membership

Membership is open to National Police services of Pacific Island countries and territories within the region. Currently, there are 21 members ranging from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in the north, New Zealand in the south, French Polynesia to the east, and the Republic of Palau to the west. Within member countries and territories, there are more than 75,000 serving police officers.

List of Members

American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Constitution and Mission Statement

PICP is governed by a Constitution which includes the following Mission Statement: “To continuously improve standards within the policing profession and, through collaboration between members, to vigorously and effectively represent the policing interests of all Pacific Island Countries both within and beyond the Pacific Region."

Strategy

The three key strategies of the PICP Strategic plan (2004-07) are

• Integrity
• Communications and Relationship Development
• Capacity Building.

Role

The role of PICP includes the following:

• Providing a voice on law enforcement issues and raising awareness of such issues.
• Identifying trends in transnational and other crime and developing strategies to combat these.
• Contributing to training initiatives to develop capability in the region.
• Promoting information sharing and intelligence to counter transnational crime in the region.
• Providing a forum to share “best practice” across jurisdictions.
• Interacting and cooperating with agencies and organisations which share common interests.

Activities and Meetings

Many activities are conducted, and training provided, pursuant to the Mission Statement and Role. Annual conferences are held, with working groups and other meetings on specific topics being conducted regularly.

Themes of Recent Annual Conferences

• 2007 Communique Future Directions of Pacific Policing
• 2006 Communique Policing the Pacific Together
• 2005 Communique Policing Response to Natural Disasters
• 2004 Communique Safe and Secure Communities - Contributing to Peace in Our Region
• 2003 Communique Terrorism - The Wider Law Enforcement Context
• 2002 Communique Combating Terrorism, Organised Crime, Sex Crimes
• 2001 Communique Cooperation and Other Current Policing Issues
• 2000 Communique Policing Issues for the first 5 years of the 21st century

Administration & Office Holders

Administration is the responsibility of the Chairman and the permanent Secretariat. The Chairperson is the Commissioner or Head of Police of the country which hosted the previous annual conference. The Office of Chairperson is held for one year. New Zealand Police conducts the permanent Secretariat which is responsible for managing day to day business and providing advice and assistance to members on a wide range of matters.

August 2006

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