ACTING Commissioner of Police Rusiate Tudravu has no qualms about what police officers must do.
There is no room for officers who cross the line and breach the law.
They will be charged and their job will be at stake. There’s no beating around the bush so to speak!
Charging police officers for breaching laws, he said, reflected transparency within the force.
“There has been a lot of training that has been done and police officers themselves, once they march-in, they receive their basic training which is done so that they know they are the enforcers of the law and they do not break them,” he said.
It is important, he said, for all officers to know they are not above the law.
“We are not above the law and once we cross the line, we will also go through the same process as those breaching the laws,” he said.
“We need to nurture the recruits well from the start, once we have that and ground them properly from the start level, they will go far.”
Interestingly, his comments come in the wake of the revelation that eight police officers were among 51 people charged with 59 counts of separate incidents in January.
The police officers were charged with two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm, one count of assault, one unlawful use of illicit drugs, three counts of abuse of office and one count of failure to comply with curfew orders.
Five police officers who appeared in the Suva Magistrates Court on Monday, February 22, were charged with two counts of abuse of office and five counts of conspiracy to defeat justice.
All five face one charge of conspiracy to defeat justice and two face an additional charge of abuse of office for allegedly arresting the complainant without any lawful basis and in abuse of their office which was an arbitrary act.
Clearly the Acting Commissioner has to get his message through, because it seems some of his officers aren’t getting it.
It is either that or they have been influenced to do what they did, or chose to do what they did for reasons of their own, and subsequently crossed the line.
The role of the police officer is not for the fainted hearted.
It isn’t for everyone either.
Our men and women in blue have an important role to play. They shoulder the responsibility of upholding the laws of our country.
To be effective, they must be prepared to be beyond reproach.
Truth must prevail.
There must be a commitment to live up to the standards expected of policemen and women, and an appreciation of justice.
There must be value in doing what is right.
There must be value in upholding the law, and being committed to police work.
