A two-day Law Enforcement Wellness Summit facilitated by the USA Office of Special Investigations, 6th Field Investigations Region is being conducted at the Hilton Resort in Nadi aimed to provide people in leadership in the Fiji Police Force the tools to build mental health resilience among its officers.
The wellness summit is an outcome of discussions held on the margins of the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Executive Leaders Team meeting in Manly, Sydney in February 2020, police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said.
United States Embassy in Fiji Chargé d’Affaires Antone Greubel, while acknowledging the support of the Fiji Police Force, said the United States Government values the partnership between the two countries, and the Wellness Summit marks the resumption of capacity building assistance following the COVID lockdown.
“As Secretary Blinken said during his visit, the thread that runs through all our engagement with Fiji is that we’re working together in a spirit of partnership and respect. We are tackling challenges and building opportunities together to deliver concrete results that affect individual lives,” Greubel said.
“We know that the daily sacrifices of the Fiji Police can come at a cost. The selfless service you provide can have consequences in your personal lives, and hope that discussions today will empower you to better care for yourselves and your families physically, emotionally, mentally, and relationally.”
Fiji’s Commissioner of Police Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho, “The wellbeing of the workforce and prolonged working hours poses a real threat to officer’s fatigue and overall concern for service delivery – that could impact confidence in police. Stress, burnout, exposure to traumatic experiences and post-traumatic stress can impact officers’ mental health.”
The workshop ends tomorrow.
Photo: Fiji Police
