22 percent of the people do not trust the police while 18 percent say they are not fair, according to the State of Community Policing research done by Berenado Daveta consultant and former police officer and UN trainer.
While speaking to fijivillage News during the Restore Blue Symposium at the Nakasi Police Station, Daveta says according to the research, 82.5 percent police officers say there is a shortage of manpower as well.
He says from the research, 69 percent of people do trust the police but 22 percent not trusting is quite substantial and it is a challenge for the police to make sure that the officers respect members of the community and be strict with those that do not respect.
The consultant says there is a shortage of manpower as officers have been redeployed to resolves cases that are pending from COVID and were not dealt with due to restriction.
He says the Southern Division for instance has more than 1,000 cases and the police need to clear it quickly.
Daveta says they also need manpower to form special operations teams.
He further says the Force should come forward with training officers on procedural justice, which means listening to the community's voice, being respectful in the way they talk to the community and behave, convey trustworthy motives when they deal with the community and be neutral and fair.
Daveta says about 60 percent of the officers were not formally trained in community policing as it was not part of their curriculum.
He adds their Restore Blue program includes building trust between the people of Fiji and the Fiji Police Force, police culture and moving from a warrior officer to a guardian officer and to also review the whole Force and its units.
