Police Commissioner, Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho has today made it clear that investigations into complaints of missing persons begin as soon as a report is filed.

Brigadier General Qiliho says no policy or standard operating procedure mandates that nothing is to be done within 24 hours of a missing person report being received.

He says it is incorrect for some police personnel to have conveyed the idea that there is a 24-hour waiting period.

“The first thing that happens is that information is shared with all the police stations in Fiji. So it is not that nothing is happening and, depending on the information that comes through that is quickly analyzed, they can act on that information. It’s not that we don’t do anything in 24 hours. Please let’s get that right in regards to missing persons.”

Brigadier General Qiliho says the work starts from when the missing person’s case is reported.

The Police Commissioner adds he has addressed this issue in their meetings and has told officers that he doesn’t want to hear that statement again because there is no such thing as waiting for 24 hours in regards to police operations.