The negative effect of being complacent has, at times, led to the institution being branded as unprofessional, and in some scenarios a brutal force.

Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho said this yesterday while opening the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) three-day workshop for Police at the Fiji Police Academy in Nasova, Suva.

This is in response to incidences where a number of Police officers, past and present, had been caught in the wrong side of the law.

He said training in any form was always welcomed because as law enforcement officers, they could not be complacent with keeping abreast with issues that directly affected their work.

“Our work is complex in nature because we are dealing with human beings, and as such we must always be considerate of their needs at all times,” he said.

“At times we are guilty of being too complacent in the execution of our duties and when we let our guard down. That is when we find ourselves in a regrettable situation.”

Despite this, he said he never doubted the abilities of his officers to do their work because they knew policing and were capable of executing their duties.

“However, there are just a handful of our officers who have been caught in the vicious cycle of being too complacent and are disregarding the rules that govern our work,” the Police Commissioner said.

ICRC’s head of regional delegation Fred Grimm said Police officers would hear from them about the importance of how to exercise their powers and discharge responsibilities to the public.

“Prevention activities are one of the important activities the ICRC is carrying out on how to deal with specific situations from a law enforcement perspective,” Mr Grimm said.

“These are the main reasons why the ICRC carries out such training seminars for the Police and other armed and security forces where they are tasked with contributing to law enforcement.”

Technology

Brigadier-General Qiliho also reminded his officers that technology today had the ability to make or break them.

“We have seen global companies and major institutions succumb to the power of modern technology when the misconduct of one of their employees is caught on camera,” he said.

“That is the reality of the society that we are living in today. We may not like it, but we have to accept it and learn to work with it.

“In the event that you get caught in one of these situations where the power of technology shows you abusing your authority, or the failure to obey directives, I will be the first to show you the door.”

Amid these circumstances Brigadier-General Qiliho intends to help bring back the days where Police officers were respected and held to the highest regard by the public.

He said the partnership with the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission has ensured that every person who enters any station was aware of their rights through posters that have been put up.

“This leaves us absolutely no room to be tweaking things so to speak when it comes to the handling of persons in our custody or in general the conduct of our work,” he said.

“If you are found doing otherwise, then it’s a straight forward case of disobedience and I have addressed a few incidents lately of those not wanting to adhere to directives.”

The workshop ends on Friday.

Edited by Jonathan Bryce

Feedback:  ashna.kumar@fijisun.com.fj