In the latest development in efforts to rebuild public confidence in Fiji’s law enforcement, Assistant Commissioner of Police Loraini Seru has become the first woman to reach the rank of Assistant Commissioner in the Fiji Police Force. Seru, who joined the force in 1991 and has served for 35 years, now heads the Internal Affairs and Professional Standards Division, the unit charged with enforcing discipline, professional conduct and accountability from within the organisation.
Originally from Tailevu with maternal links to Ra, Seru began her career as a special constable after leaving Adi Cakobau School and steadily rose through the ranks. Her background includes a defining tenure as Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, a role she says tested her patience and capacity to operate under pressure while answering to courts and the public. “I’ve gone through the ranks from being a special constable to now Assistant Commissioner. It has been a journey of commitment, learning and service,” she said.
As head of Internal Affairs and Professional Standards, Seru has set an inward-looking agenda focused on strengthening systems, processes and the conduct of officers to restore public trust. “Our unit plays a critical role in building public confidence. To do that, we must first get our own house in order,” she said, underlining the need to raise the standard of personnel to meet rising public expectations. Balancing disciplinary action with support for officers, she added, will be central to the division’s approach given the varied backgrounds and pressures personnel face.
Seru’s elevation is being read as part of a wider cultural shift inside the force. She paid tribute to the persistence and sacrifices of women officers who preceded her, saying the force has begun to recognise women’s contributions more fully and that her career was shaped by mentorship from senior officers during her early frontline years. “Rather than barriers, I see challenges — in adapting to different environments, communities and expectations,” she said, stressing respect, protocol and teamwork.
Her appointment comes amid a changing crime landscape that Seru says demands new internal standards. Reflecting on policing in the 1990s, she warned drugs are now pervasive in Fiji and have reshaped how investigations are planned and conducted. Equally worrying, she told reporters, is a growing trend of police officers being implicated in criminal cases — a shift from earlier decades when misconduct tended to be disciplinary rather than criminal. Those trends, she argued, make the work of Internal Affairs more urgent.
The promotion also dovetails with broader reform efforts. Government-backed work to modernise the Police Act of 1965 and other institutional overhauls have emphasised rebuilding trust and ensuring the force can meet contemporary challenges such as drug crime and increased public scrutiny. Seru’s role is likely to be pivotal in implementing the internal accountability measures that reformers say are essential to that rebuilding effort.
Seru framed her own rise as the product of mentorship, commitment and steady professional development rather than a simple breaking of barriers. Her appointment marks both a personal milestone and an institutional signal: a senior leadership focused on integrity and standards at a time when public confidence and internal discipline are high on the national agenda.
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