Acting Commissioner Afamasaga, currently also the Acting Chair of the Pacific Transnational Crime Network (PTCN) attended the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police (PICP) Executive Leadership Team Meeting on the morning of Friday 12 November 2021. The Acting Commissioner was joined by Deputy Commissioners Tiai Keti and Filipo as PICP programmes, including Cyber Safety Pasifika were discussed amongst the Pacific Commissioners.
The PTCN is a Pacific-led initiative that provides proactive criminal intelligence and investigative capability to combat Transnational Serious and Organised Crime (TSOC) in the Pacific. The PTCN is supported by Australian Federal Police, New Zealand Police and the United States Joint Interagency Task Force West. The PTCN has 28 Transnational Crime Units (TCU), located in 20 of the PICP member countries. The objectives of these TCUs is to enhance transnational crime information sharing across the region and deliver investigative support. The PTCN operates on a ‘hub and spoke’ environment with the Pacific Transnational Crime Coordination Centre (PTCCC) located here in Samoa; coordinating and analysing all information received from TCUs across the PTCN.
The Acting Commissioner presented to the PICP on the activities of the PTCN being undertaken to detect, deter, disrupt and dismantle transnational crime and work towards a safer blue Pacific. An overview of the Pacific transnational crime environment was then provided by Sergeant Nicole Goodwin, a member of the Australian Federal Police currently seconded as an Advisor to the PTCCC.
In the afternoon session of the meeting, the SPPCS Executive were joined by the former Commissioner, Fuiavailiili Egon Keil as a PICP special guest presenter.
The SPPCS are committed to a safer Samoa