The increase in crimes against children in this country is a great concern.
That is the message from Police Commissioner, Rusiate Tudravu as he spoke about the crime statistics from February to April this year.
Tudravu says during that period 311 cases were recorded, and 46 percent were sexual offences.
41 percent were assaults while the remainder were other offences.
The Commissioner says 28 percent of the cases were committed by families and other relatives in domestic settings.
Tudravu says the fact that our children cannot feel safe in their own homes is extremely worrying and warrants an aggressive approach in dealing with the root causes of these crimes.
In other crimes, the illicit drug cases registered an increase by 45 percent - a reflection of the aggressive approach through the joint operations according to Tudravu.
He also says complaints against police recorded a 35 percent reduction.
Overall crime for the reporting period from February to April this year recorded a decrease of 19 percent, and serious crimes decreased by 14 percent.
Tudravu says crimes against women also decreased by 11 percent.
Tudravu maintains that police are leading the joint operations while the military is supporting them.
He says the armed soldiers are with the police to support the work of the police where needed based on the information received.
