THE police force is aiming for a crime-free Fiji next year as part of ambitious plans to revitalise community policing.
The vision was laid out by Police Commissioner Esala Teleni at the opening of the new community policing headquarters yesterday.
"Our plans for the near future includes making Fiji a crime-free state and for that we need help from the public. The community policing department will take the lead role in ensuring that the relationship between the force and the public is strong."
He said the police force aimed to improve relationship between law enforcers and the community as a strategy to reduce crime
Mr Teleni said the community policing office will also house the Tourist Police, Crime Stoppers and the Police Juvenile Centre.
The community policing headquarters is situated in the old Multi-Ethnic Office at 5 Renwick Road, near the Vodafone Triangle.
Mr Teleni said community policing was a challenging work because the officers involved in it had to think of the welfare of the people and how the force could improve its relationship with the members of the public in reducing crime in the country.
He said they had moved away from a crime-focussed department to a people-focussed department because people were the ones who provided information to police.
"We will work with other law enforcement agencies to make sure the right strategies are followed," he said.
Mr Teleni said the reform of the police department had started in 2007 and continued last year and they included restructure of the force, the community policing and a change in the Fiji Police Academy curriculum.
He said 2010 will be the consolidation of all the reforms.
