A four year plan to strengthen policing in the Pacific has been launched by New Zealand Police, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade and seven participating Pacific Island nations.
The Partnership for Pacific Policing (3P) Programme involves training and mentoring by New Zealand Police officers of police services in the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tuvalu and Vanuatu
The $4.19m New Zealand Government funded project will enhance policing capability and relationships already built over several years by New Zealand Police and the participating nations.
Today's launch reaffirms Government and the New Zealand Police commitment to Pacific policing and a safer region.
New Zealand Police advisers will work in areas such as road policing, prosecutions, community policing, forensics, investigations and case management. They will focus particularly on technical help, ethics and human rights, leadership, operational development and community engagement initiatives.
"The 3P approach is about building operational capability and capacity plus the flexibility to respond to emerging Pacific policing needs," says Assistant Commissioner (International) Malcolm Burgess.
"New Zealand Police has significant strengths in community and prevention based policing. We will use this knowledge to encourage greater collaboration between Pacific police services, their communities and stakeholders.
"The 3P programme is also a further endorsement of New Zealand Police in the international arena.
"I'm confident it will bring long term benefits to New Zealand as we help build further policing capacity with our Pacific neighbours" said Mr Burgess.
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Note: The Partnership for Pacific Policing Programme was officially launched at the Royal New Zealand Police College in Porirua today. Present were representatives from New Zealand Police, MFAT, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Samoa and Tuvalu.
Issued by:
Grant Ogilvie
PNHQ media team
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