Opening of the consultation forum

As part of the transformational journey of the Fiji Police Force (FPF), work has begun on the review of the Fiji Police Academy’s School of Community Policing Curriculum.

Opening the consultation forum attended by senior and frontline Community Policing officers, retired officers, the architect of the Duavata Community Policing model Dr. Eci Nabalarua and New Zealand Police Senior Advisors based at the Academy under the New Zealand Government supported Fiji Police Partnership Programme (FPPP) at the Nakasi Police Station yesterday, was the Assistant Commissioner of Police Administration (ACP/A) Meli Sateki.

The review of the training curriculum is aligned to the FPF Training and Development Framework, with the new curriculum envisaged to achieve the overall intent of ensuring Policing Quality, Consistency, Reliability and Reputation.

The decision to begin with the review of the School of Community Policing Curriculum is aligned to the Commissioner of Police Rusiate Tudravu’s focus on improving community policing efforts as it is proven to be law enforcement’s most effective crime prevention tool.

The review will specifically look to align training to the roles and responsibilities of community policing post holders such as the Divisional Manager Community Policing, Post office?r's ?and Cluster Chiefs.

ACP Sateki said that all the participants were well versed with the challenges of policing, one of which has always been training and succession planning.

“We are embarking on a revolutionary change in our training deliverables, whereby training for community police officers will complement the role, rather than just the rank. This approach ensures police officers are not thrown into unknown territory having to learn on the job, which at times have impacted service delivery.”

ACP Sateki urged members of the consultation forum to be open and frank with their discussions.

“We value and respect your contribution as you bring diverse perspectives on the current situation faced by the present generation of serving police officers.”

“I know we are in good hands, and we are eagerly looking forward to the? outcomes of this process, as it stands to benefit many generations of police? officers with their succession internally, as well as being marketable externally, where we prepare officers who are able to serve their beloved Fiji in various capacities.”

The consultation ends on Friday.