Pacific police chiefs launch PACPOL to fight transnational crime

Pacific police chiefs have established a new regional policing organization aimed at combating transnational crime, including drug trafficking, human smuggling, child sexual exploitation, money laundering, and firearms trafficking.

Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Commissioner David Manning said the newly formed Pacific Community of Policing, or PACPOL, would strengthen intelligence sharing, cooperation, and joint law enforcement capabilities across the region.

Manning, who was named PACPOL's inaugural chair, announced the initiative during the final day of the 53rd Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Conference last Oct. 16 at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan in Garapan.

The final-day press conference was the only occasion local media were invited to cover the four-day gathering, hosted by the CNMI Department of Public Safety from Oct. 13 to 16.

Manning identified transnational crime as the region's biggest policing challenge, with criminal networks exploiting gaps in cooperation among Pacific jurisdictions.

“Transnational crime is crime that basically does not respect borders,” he said.

“It is the drug trafficking. It is the human smuggling. It's the child sexual exploitation of our young girls and boys in the Pacific.”

He also cited money laundering and firearms trafficking as threats requiring a coordinated regional response.

PACPOL combines the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police and the Pacific Police Initiative under one Pacific-led organization. Its constitution was endorsed during the Saipan conference.

“PACPOL will be judged not by the number of meetings we hold, but by our collective work to dismantle criminal networks, intercept illicit drugs and firearms, and work together as one region to serve our communities,” Manning said.

He explained that the organization would pool expertise, training, intelligence, and operational resources to disrupt criminal networks operating across national boundaries.

When asked whether PACPOL would eventually function like a regional version of Interpol, Manning acknowledged that this was the goal.

“That is the aim, yes. That is our intent, but there's a lot of work that needs to be done,” he said.

Manning stressed that cooperation would respect the sovereignty and laws of individual Pacific jurisdictions rather than impose uniform policing procedures.

“We've discussed greater collaboration, greater information sharing. We respect at every step of the way the sovereignty of nations in the Pacific,” he said.

Under the arrangement, police chiefs and commissioners would continue meeting annually to exchange information, identify emerging threats, and determine appropriate regional responses.

For the CNMI, DPS Commissioner Anthony I. Macaranas said PACPOL would improve intelligence gathering and cooperation with neighboring police agencies and federal law enforcement partners.

“It's the [intelligence] gathering, you know, the cooperation among each other to help each other in combating some of the crimes happening, the transnational [crimes], the drugs, you know,” Macaranas told Marianas Press.

“We work together amongst the [chiefs], both the Pacific and the federal side,” he added.

Macaranas, who chaired the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police conference, said the annual gathering allowed regional law enforcement leaders to discuss common challenges and develop solutions to protect their communities.

He also welcomed the opportunity for the CNMI to host the conference despite the approaching Typhoon Champi.

“But, you know, even with the threat of the typhoon, we still make it happen,” Macaranas said.

Manning, meanwhile, said some transnational criminal threats originated outside the Pacific, although he declined to identify particular countries because investigations were ongoing.

He said criminal organizations had taken advantage of gaps in regional policing, allowing their activities to become domestic security threats.

“But by uniting under one PACPOL, one organization, we look forward to closing those gaps, making it more difficult, disrupting their networks, dismantling their networks,” he said.

PACPOL builds on more than five decades of regional police cooperation that began in 1970 with seven founding members under the South Pacific Chiefs of Police Conference. The organization became known as the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police in 2004 and has since expanded its regional membership.

It brings together 23 Pacific nations and territories—American Samoa, Australia, the CNMI, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna.

Wallis and Futuna was admitted as the organization's 23rd member during the Saipan conference.

Manning said the new organization would allow Pacific police forces to address security threats collectively while maintaining their respective national and territorial responsibilities