by Jack Lapauve Jnr, – EM TV, Port Moresby
The 43rd Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Conference commenced today in Auckland, New Zealand, with welcome remarks by the current chair Cook Islands Police Commissioner Maara Tetava.
Mr Shane Jones, the New Zealand Ambassador for the Pacific Economic Development officially opened the conference.
Incoming chair Commissioner Bush, whilst introducing the theme of the conference which is “Leading the Mindset Change to Prevention”, stated that the benefits of collaboration on law enforcement issues that affect the Pacific cannot be overstated.
Commissioner Bush said cyber-crime, illicit drugs, organised crime and family violence are common crime themes that will be addressed this week by the Pacific police leaders. A focus will also be placed on the development of more women into the various police organisations.
“We will see strong leadership this week with the agreement of a new PICP strategic plan. This plan has a strong preventative theme and innovative strategies that would be developed across the police organisations in the next five years.
PNG Police Commissioner Geoffrey Vaki is attending the conference together with police chiefs from 18 other countries.
The conference ends on Friday.
