Police emphasises community service

Fiji Police Force will be putting more emphasis on its community policing initiative.

Commissioner of Police Brigadier General Ioane Naivalurua while speaking at the two day Singapore Comparative Study Tour workshop this week said Community Policing for them is very important.

“Some of our officers that are out in the community do not wear the uniforms because we want members of the community to feel comfortable with our presence, and it helps us develop trust,” said Naivalurua.

With the theme “Benchmarking with the intent of ridding old challenges with new approaches”, a challenge was set to uplift the standard of work for the force to the highest level.

According to a survey carried out by Transparency International, Singapore has been ranked the fifth safest nation in the world, largely due to the work of their police force and the crime preventative measures put in place.

As such for the first time a representative from the Singapore Police Force was on hand via skype to speak to the participants on behalf of their Commissioner of Police.

Director International Cooperation Department deputy assistant commissioner Cheong Chee Ming communicating from Singapore via skype outlined the work of the Singapore Police Force mainly revolving around community policing.

Taking their cue from the needs of the community, the director stressed the importance of being part and knowing your community.

Singapore like Fiji shares a lot of similarities in terms laws, being a multicultural society, similar climate and an island nation.

However, when compared to the area of policing, Fiji has a much more extensive area of policing compared to their counterparts.

By Ropate Valemei