Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police

News

News release

Fiji Police Suspended from Regional Police Community

13 December 2006

Fiji Police is to be immediately suspended from the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police (PICP) organisation following an urgent postal ballot of the 21 PICP members. "The PICP members have agreed to suspend Fiji Police from participating in the activities of the PICP, pending the restoration of the rule of law in Fiji" said the PICP Chairman, Director Hazime Telei of the Palau Bureau of Public Safety.

PICP Chairman Telei said "The members expressed their strong concern at the intimidation shown against the Police Commissioner, Andrew Hughes, and his senior staff, including the unlawful detention of the acting Commissioner and an Assistant Commissioner which subsequently forced their resignations from the Fiji Police Force."

"The provisions for suspension of a member country, under the PICP Constitution, have never previously been considered and members have therefore carefully considered this disciplinary step."

"Many of the members expressed their great respect for the members of the Fiji Police Force who they hold in the highest regard" said Mr Telei. "It was important therefore to recognise that the censure imposed by the PICP members through this suspension of the Fiji Police Force is against the break down in democracy and the attack on the rule of law in Fiji."

The Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police had issued an earlier letter of support to Fiji Commissioner Andrew Hughes on 7th November 2006 where they expressed their strong support in his duties as the Police Commissioner, and their support to the Fiji Police Force members.

The Executive Director of the PICP Secretariat, Superintendent Cam Ronald said that the effect of the suspension would be to exclude Fiji Police from attendance at meetings and participation in the management of the PICP and it’s decision making processes.

Fiji Police members would continue to receive technical assistance and support in existing PICP programmes such as disaster response planning and HIV/AIDS education. They would continue to be able to avail themselves of regional police training assistance.

"The PICP looks forward to the restoration of democracy in Fiji and the return of Fiji Police to the organisation, as they were a founding member of the organisation over 35 years ago" said PICP Chairman Telei.

Background to the PICP

The Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police, which was formerly known as the South Pacific Chiefs of Police Conference, has previously represented the Police Services of all 21 member countries in Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. There are over 35,000 police members represented through the PICP. The PICP has a strategic emphasis on Integrity, Communications between members and other regional organisations, and Capacity Development.

Contact points

PICP Chairman Hazime Telei, Director of the Palau Bureau of Public Safety, Palau Phone +680 488 2423

PICP Executive Director Superintendent Cam Ronald, Wellington, New Zealand Phone +64 4 470 7126

Events

The following events may involve some Chiefs of Police, depending on the make-up of their organisation. Further information can be obtained from the sites listed below or by contacting the PICP Secretariat at e-mail: picp@police.govt.nz

• Pacific Islands Immigration Directors Conference (PIDC), Annual Conference to be held in Wellington, NZ, 17-19 October 2006
• FBI National Academy Associates (FBINAA), 9th Asia Pacific Retrainer, to be held in Canberra, 5-8 November 2006. See: http://www.fbinaa.org
• NZ Police Act Review: "Security the Future - Networked Policing In New Zealand". 21-22 November 2006. See: http://www.vuw.ac.nz/sog/events/Securing_the_future.aspx
• 26th Asian & Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators (APCCA), to be held in Auckland, 26 November - 1 December 2006. See: http://www.apcca.org/main-events/events.html

What's happening at the Secretariat

• Mid September 2006, Ms Kasanita Seruvatu, Fiji Police Academy Director Training, in office to develop HIV training kit for use regionally by police services.
• Late September 2006, PRPI Focus Group of Director Hazime Telei (Palau), Commander Sinilau Kolokihakaufisi (Tonga), Commissioner Sam Inguba (PNG) and Commissioner Pira Wichman (Cook Islands), meet to discuss PRPI review.
• Late September 2006, Alistair MacDonald, HIV Programme Manager, invited to The Asia Pacific Consultation on HIV in New Delhi, to showcase the PICP/UNAIDS programme with Asian law enforcement representatives.
• Late October 2006 Pacific Donor Collaboration Meeting, Australia chaired by Executive Director Cam Ronald.
• Oct-Nov 2006, S/Sgt Ruta Tana, Cook Islands Police, to assist with the review into Police Legislation.

Current Issues

Role, Criminal Investigations, Liaison, Training, and Peace Keeping

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 organised crime.
    * Providing a forum to share "best practice" across jurisdictions.
    * Interacting and cooperating with agencies and organisations which share common interests. 

Criminal Investigations

The need for international police services to communicate and share information is vital with the increase in international travel, advances in technology, and the spread of transnational organised crime.

With these changes, PICP has become a key figure in law enforcement in the Pacific region.

Police services in the Pacific are committed to reducing all types of major crime including those relating to terrorism, murder and other forms of attack on the person, illicit drugs, money laundering, fraud, paedophilia and other serious sex offences, and people smuggling.

To achieve this objective, Police in the region are engaged in initiating, developing and promoting an extensive range of strategies to prevent, combat and eliminate crime.

Liaison

PICP liaises and interacts with other agencies in the Pacific region and elsewhere with an interest in law enforcement. These include Interpol, United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, Pacific Islands' Forum Secretariat, Oceania Customs Organisation, Pacific Immigration Directors' Conference and Pacific Islands Law Officers' Meeting.

Representatives from these agencies regularly attend annual conferences of SPCPC as observers and cooperate in other ways. For example, in 2002 Police, Customs and Immigration presented a joint paper to the (Pacific Islands) Forum Regional Security Committee meeting.

The Australian Federal Police maintains a network of Liaison Officers in the region who operate under the general control of the Regional Coordinator Pacific Islands who is based at police headquarters in Canberra.

Training

PICP is extensively involved in training initiatives, either in its own right or in partnership with other agencies. Most of this is through in-country courses conducted by Police officers from Australia and New Zealand Police, often in conjunction with Customs officers under a 5 year training programme (1998-2002) coordinated by the Pacific Islands' Forum Secretariat. Topics covered include crime scene examination, fraud, community policing, operational intelligence analysis and risk management.

Other training includes gender and development programs (with an emphasis on domestic violence issues) and border control.

Peace Keeping

For many years Police services from Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand have provided officers for peace keeping duties in all parts of the world. During recent times, these duties have included countries in the Pacific such as East Timor and Solomon Islands.