Department of Public Safety Acting Spokesman Jason T. Tarkong said this year’s representatives from the CNMI were PO2 Mary Lou Tanaka and PO1 Raquel Ogumoro for the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Women’s Advisory Network annual exchange program.
Tarkong said the exchange program, which was open only to female law enforcers, was conducted to share information, network, and familiarize the participants with the hosting islands law enforcement operations.
Tanaka and Ogumoro left Saipan for Vanuatu on July 3 and returned on July 25.
“Their three-week stay in Vanuatu gave them the chance to compare and contrast the differences on how police officers operate in Vanuatu,” Tarkong said in a statement.
One example, he added, was that police officers in Vanuatu prosecute their own cases.
The theme of the conference was “Youth Crime in the Pacific.”
This year’s participants included members from Kiribati, Palau, Fiji, Pohnpei, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Cook Islands, and Guam. The Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police is a non-profit organization made up of police services in the Pacific works that aims to enhance and improve policing and communication in the Pacific by promoting and providing a voice on law enforcement and social policy concerns.
Tarkong said the PICP also provides a forum to share information and intelligence to counter transnational crime in the region.
PICP membership is open to National Police services of Pacific island countries and territories within the region and has currently over 75,000 police officers from 21 member countries.
Tarkong added that the exchange program, established in 2006, will see six exchanges this year between Vanuatu, CNMI, Guam, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Tuvalu and Kiribati. Each exchange lasts three weeks and enables participants to experience policing in other parts of the Pacific.
The next annual Chiefs of Police conference will be in Papua New Guinea in September.
