A regional training programme to strengthen police communications across the Pacific has begun in Suva, bringing together media and communications officers from several island police services to improve how law enforcement engages with news and social media.
The three-day inaugural workshop, backed by the Pacific Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (PACLEC) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP), aims to equip communication officers with skills to manage rapidly evolving digital media landscapes and shape public perceptions of policing. It is jointly facilitated by the Fijian Media Association, the Pacific Islands News Association and the Fiji Police Force.
Participants include media and communications personnel from the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force, Samoa Police, Prisons and Corrections Services, Tonga Police, Nauru Police Force, Vanuatu Police Force and representatives from the Australian Federal Police. The programme organisers described the mix of regional law enforcement and media trainers as an effort to blend operational understanding with journalistic and digital communications expertise.
Opening the workshop, Fiji Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu underlined the growing importance of communication officers in building and sustaining public trust. He highlighted how coverage and conversations on traditional and social media increasingly shape community sentiments about policing and said the workshop would help officers respond more effectively and transparently in that environment. Commissioner Tudravu also acknowledged the contribution of regional media experts taking part in the training.
The workshop’s curriculum places particular emphasis on the responsibilities of communications teams in the digital age — including managing misinformation, crafting timely public messaging and engaging communities to strengthen legitimacy. Organisers say the practical focus and regional peer learning are intended to improve consistency and professionalism in police public communications across jurisdictions with differing media environments and legal frameworks.
The final day of the programme will be devoted to developing communications strategies in advance of a transnational organized crime summit scheduled for May 2026 in Fiji, to be co-hosted by the Fiji Police Force and the AFP. Officials explained that coordinated messaging and cross-border information-sharing will be a priority for the summit, and that trained communications officers will play a key role in shaping public understanding of joint operations and regional initiatives.
The Suva workshop follows a broader pattern of capacity-building between Fiji and regional partners, including recent investigative and public order courses delivered with AFP support and participation in Pacific policing forums. Those prior initiatives underscore Canberra’s and Fiji’s ongoing role in regional law enforcement cooperation, and organisers say this new communications training fills a strategic gap by focusing on how policing is presented and perceived across media channels.
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