Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu has reaffirmed the Fiji Police Force’s commitment to its no-drop policy on domestic violence.
Responding to accusations by Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre co-ordinator Shamima Ali regarding alleged cover-up and reports of police officers encouraging counter charges against victims, Mr Tudravu said the issue was in the implementation of what the officers learned during trainings and workshops on how to deal with domestic violence cases.
“The FPF is very clear on this, it has a no-drop policy. All officers know that,” Mr Tudravu said.
“When they went through training at the police academy, there was a module specifically for domestic violence.
“So, it’s just the implementation part that I think is something we need to look into, but we have workshops currently undertaken.
“I respect comments from people outside the organisation, but we are doing what we can do to improve and upskill our police officers.”
Mr Tudravu said he understood that changing the narrative and winning back the public’s confidence and trust would not happen overnight.
“I ask that you trust the process, trust that we will hold officers accountable, trust that we have nothing to hide, and we have nothing to gain from condoning unprofessional and corrupt practices as it only impacts community-police relations.
“We need the support of the community as we cannot fight crime alone.”
