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Pacific Islands Chiefs of PoliceWorking towards "Safe and secure communities for all Pacific Island countries" |
2000 Communique29th SPCPC conferenceRotorua, New Zealand Policing Issues for the first 5 years of the 21st centuryThe Minister of Police in New Zealand, Hon. George Hawkins, officially opened the 29th South Pacific Chiefs of Police Conference (SPCPC) on Monday 2 October 2000. The South Pacific Chiefs of Police Conference was formed in 1970. It has 21 member countries and is the largest body of Police Commissioners/Chiefs in the area, representing over 80,000 police officers. This year’s conference was attended by 29 delegates, including observers from six organisations. It was an outstanding success and will contribute greatly to enhancing regional cooperation in law enforcement. The conference theme "Policing Issues for the first 5 years of the 21st century" focussed on a series of key issues facing police organisations in the region, including money laundering, illicit drugs and electronic crime. The conference met throughout the week at the Sheraton Conference Centre in Rotorua and was chaired by Commissioner Rob Robinson of New Zealand Police. The conference reaffirmed the need for furthering a professional approach to policing, the need for consistent ethical standards, and measurable policing performance objectives. Communities throughout the region are looking to their police for positive action to strengthen their lives and protect their environment. Police commissioners reaffirmed their view that there is a clear need to also drive police performance more strongly. There was resounding agreement at the conference that crime is becoming increasingly sophisticated and that it is not constrained by national boundaries. The mobility of people, money, information, ideas and commodities generally has provided new opportunities for crime and new challenges for law enforcement agencies globally. Law enforcement agencies dealing with electronic crime, drug smuggling and money laundering cannot solve these types of crime in isolation. The conference emphasised the critical importance of Pacific members continuing to build relationships, as a strong network can be drawn upon in the future to everyone’s benefit. Member states were of the view that international criminals targeted specific countries for electronic crime, drug and people smuggling and money laundering and that monitoring and combating these areas of crime is a major challenge for Pacific societies. Each delegation presented a situational analysis of their country and shared their concerns about meeting these challenges. All delegations agreed that it is vital to work together in sharing criminal intelligence and developing legislative frameworks in order to combat international crime. The conference underlined the complexity of electronic crime, delegates discussed Internet- based systems for recording criminal activity, and encryption software and the requirement for governments to interact and create a legislative framework for security purposes. As criminals make extensive use of the Internet to communicate and obtain access to Police intelligence, the delegates discussed the importance of strict security rules for protecting access and storage of data. Financial intelligence information sharing was extensively covered during the conference. Estimates were provided by delegates on the amount of money being laundered worldwide. Although the impact of money laundering in the Pacific is perceived to be small in a global sense, it is an issue that could potentially seriously impact on island nations in the future. The delegations agreed that the Pacific is being increasingly targeted for this activity. Electronic crime plays a role in money laundering, delegates discussed the importance of establishing financial intelligence units, with the aim being to monitor financiers' and investors' schemes to ensure their legality. Illicit drugs are a global business enterprise in which developing markets, technologically advanced equipment, involvement in other illegal activity and transportation networks are common features. Several delegates gave examples of crime in this area. During the course of the conference, the delegations were presented with specific examples of inter-agency practice in New Zealand. These were compared with other examples of best practice from the wider Pacific region. Other topics discussed at the conference included community safety, DNA developments, training issues, people smuggling and weapon control. Resolutions adopted by the conference reflect the readiness of the members of the South Pacific Chiefs of Police Conference to collectively tackle crime in their communities. Archives:
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