NZ Police reassures continued support for FPF
New Zealand Police Senior Advisors working under the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade supported Fiji Police Force Partnership Programme (FPPP) met with the Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew at the Police Headquarters in Suva this morning.
The team led by Senior Advisor Mark Pakes include S.A. Michele Gillespie, S.A. David Sanday, S.A. Wally Kopae, had arrived into the country in January, and have recently been joined by S.A. Jasmine Woollett.
Introducing the team was NZ Police Senior Liaison Officer (Pacific) Superintendent Glyn Rowland who reassured the Acting Commissioner of Police of their commitment towards the empowerment of police officers in the Development of Investigative Interviewing Capability, Development of General Patrol capability (K9), Asset Recovery Support and Development of Leadership and Governance capability.
“The biggest leaders in our organization are the Constables, they go in day to day on the frontline knowing they have the endorsement to make decisions so it’s about empowering officers”, said SP Rowland.
Echoing similar sentiments was S.A. Mark Pakes, “According to the public they see our frontline officers as the Police and that is how they measure our success .We know that its challenging from an executive level, not being able to make operational decisions that are left to our Constables and Sergeants to make every day, and that is where we hope to share our experiences and get involved in the conversations.”.
For S.A. Jaz Woollett who recently joined the team, she hopes to share and empower officers with almost 20 years of experience in the investigations field.
“Majority of my years in service has been in the New Zealand Police’s Criminal Investigation Branch and I have worked in Solomon Islands assisting in similar programs of enhancing investigative capabilities”.
“I’m keen to engage and work with the Fiji Police and look forward to also getting involved in other policing activities such as sports as I am a keen netball player and look forward to new experiences during my two year term”.
The FPPP which is also supported by the UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji is aimed at enhancing the capacity and capabilities of the Fiji Police Force.
The New Zealand Government has committed to expanding practical bilateral and regional cooperation in defence, policing, border security, cyber security, and intelligence through deeper knowledge sharing and more regular exchanges, as well as shared training and operation, under the Duavata Partnership agreement.
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