Police officers have been reporting to politicians, chiefs, and businesspeople, rather than to their leaders, according to Minister for Home Affairs, Pio Tikoduadua.
He told members of the Labasa’s Rotary Club this state of affairs was unacceptable because they must only respond to the law.
“The Fiji Police Force, while upholding and protecting the people and enforcing the law, must first follow the law,” Mr Tikoduadua said.
Police officers, the minister said, must look after the wellbeing of everyone, and not only certain classes in the community.
“People do not feel secure, which is why they have lost trust. Distrust has built up, this is our reality.
“It is the truth we must embrace as all of this has contributed to the nation that we are today.”
Mr Tikoduadua said he receives hundreds of text messages of complaints against officers daily.
“Some of this may be true, some may be exaggerated, but regardless, there are real concerns.”
To address this, Mr Tikoduadua said, they had developed the Police Reset Strategy.
“This is something that did not develop overnight.
“With this strategy, we are trying to professionalise the police force.”
He said they were working with Australia and New Zealand to improve our police force.
