Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration Pio Tikoduadua says he would like a Fijian national to be the Commissioner of Police and to be assisted by a mentor who will be an expatriate.
This was highlighted by Tikoduadua on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan when questioned on when the Police Commissioner will be appointed and whether he would prefer a local or expatriate.
He says he has asked the Constitutional Offices Commission and hopes the appointment comes soon.
He also says that they have been assured by Attorney General, Graham Leung that they are following the process to get one appointed. Tikoduadua adds they are also working with the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Government to build Police professionalism.
Tikoduadua also says there will be an enhanced MOU with the Australian Federal Police to assist in providing increased professional development opportunities in the Fiji Police Force.
He confirms we also expect Australian Federal Police officers to be embedded in different departments to assist our Police Force in critical areas.
They are also expected to enhance regional and international cross-border cooperation, including with the Oceania Customs Organization, the World Customs Organization, the Colombo Plan, INTERPOL, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and strengthen bilateral cooperation, including with Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America.
Tikoduadua says they will also focus to improve coherence and ensure coordinated actions aligned to international norms and standards and establish peer review mechanisms, multilateral cooperation initiatives and information exchange mechanisms.
He says they also aim to strengthen inter-regional cooperation mechanisms to enhance communications and intelligence exchange with source countries for drugs, in particular Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Americas.
