Praneeta Prakash 
Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu. [Photo: FILE]
Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu says he intends to establish a Peacekeeping Training Centre as an extension of the Fiji Police Academy to strengthen pre-deployment training for officers.
Tudravu says the centre will help prepare police officers for regional and international peacekeeping missions.
He says the Force does not have a specialized facility solely dedicated to peacekeeping.
Tudravu adds that this will also create more opportunities for officers, including women officers, to serve in peacekeeping missions.
“We don’t have a special facility for that. For Black Rock, where the military is assisting, that is for deployment with the military. But solely for police deployment, there’s none. So it’s just an extension of the current buildings while at the academy or up at the police mobile force, just to get a facility for pre-deployment purposes.”
Defence Minister Pio Tikoduadua says Fiji is reviewing its commitment to international and regional peacekeeping.
“So we’ve got to make sure that our women, our servicewomen, both policewomen and soldiers, are looked after well to do their work well here in Fiji, particularly in these new challenges that we face.”
More than 1,650 police officers have served in United Nations and regional peacekeeping missions since 1989, including joint deployments with the Republic of Fiji Military Forces. This also includes 149 women officers.
