Police rebuild strategy around public trust and confidence

The Fiji Police Force is rebuilding its strategy around public trust and confidence to help bridge critical gaps in manpower and resources.

During a review of the 2021–2022 annual report, Standing Committee member Penioni Ravunawa questioned how the force measures and improves public confidence.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Administration Meli Sateki acknowledged that community trust remained an area of focus for the organisation.

“We are aware that we must have the trust and confidence of our community. As much as we would like to enjoy that partnership with communities, we are still facing some challenges in terms of their expectations.

“The challenges are mainly that the Police cannot be everywhere at once. We are limited by resources; we are limited by presence,” he told the committee.

ACP Sateki said Fiji Police faced different circumstances from some neighbouring countries, where technology played a greater role in supporting policing operations.

“It is a bit unfair to compare the Fiji Police Force ratio to the community with other neighbouring countries because their manpower is complemented by technology.

“For Fiji Police, we are more or less manual. We are glad that the Government has given us a budget for our CCTV project.”

The surveillance network is currently operational along the Suva-Nausori corridor, with expansion planned for Nadi and Lautoka.

ACP Sateki said the CCTV system would assist with targeted policing and help build greater public confidence where police numbers were limited.