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Thread ID: 135418	2013-10-31 18:05:00	From the Police Commissioner October 31	WalOne (4202)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1358372	2013-10-31 18:05:00	An international perspective By Police Commissioner Peter Marshall In keeping with my resolve to continue this fortnightly blog, this is a dispatch from the United States to keep you up to date with what I've been doing in recent days. After two full days' travel I arrived last week in the Colombian city of Cartagena for Interpol's 82nd General Assembly. Some 190 countries belong to Interpol and most were represented at the conference by their police chiefs. It was an excellent opportunity to meet my counterparts - including the Director General of the Colombian National Police, Major General Rodolfo Palomino Lopez. I was interested to learn he has approximately 178,000 police personnel under his jurisdiction. I suppose it's all a matter of perspective - his Indonesian equivalent has more than 450,000. It makes New Zealand Police, with its 12,000 members, seem rather more manageable! Having said that, the United States has approximately 17,000 law enforcement agencies. New Zealand Police would be in the top ten of those in terms of numbers of officers. Colombia's National Police have been through significant transformation in recent years. One of their principal concerns has been the terrorist organisation FARC - they've made considerable inroads into FARC's activities, but at considerable human cost. I had the privilege of meeting a sergeant from the Colombian National Police who was held prisoner by FARC in the jungle for 12 years. He was held with three colleagues who were executed during a rescue attempt. Of course, hundreds of Colombian police have been killed in the course of their duties over the years. Without playing down the challenges of policing in New Zealand, such stories put into proportion some of our trials and problems. There are a number of Interpol initiatives under way. Of particular interest to New Zealand is a cybercrime centre to be located in Singapore to tackle online offending on an international basis. We're looking very seriously at positioning a New Zealand Police representative there when the centre is completed. The Interpol conference, which was also attended by Detective Senior Sergeant Steven Dunn, officer in charge of the Interpol office at Police National Headquarters, was a great success. When it finished I travelled on to Washington DC, where Detective Superintendent Mike Pannett, our liaison officer at the New Zealand Embassy, introduced me to a raft of federal representatives who have ongoing interactions with our country. These included representatives from the Drug Enforcement Agency, Homeland Security and the US State Department. I also met the recently appointed FBI Director James Comey on the day he was sworn in by President Obama, making me one of the first overseas Commissioners to discuss matters of mutual interest with him. The meetings were aimed at ensuring that our respective organisations continue to offer each other progressive, practical and timely assistance. I'm confident our organisation is well positioned in this regard. I was also at pains to point out the ongoing contribution of New Zealand in law enforcement and related matters impacting on our part of the world. It was a very successful visit on a number of fronts. I was able to see first hand what a splendid job Mike is doing in his liaison role, and how well connected he is. The State Department has liaison officers scattered around the world and they speak very positively about the talents of our officers in the locations where they operate. While in Washington DC I was able to present a Christchurch Certificate of Appreciation to a representative of the State Department, Josh Greene, for his contribution after the earthquake of 22 February 2011. Josh assisted in a number of areas involving both New Zealand and his country, particularly in accounting for US citizens. He is the only American to have received the certificate, and did so in the presence of senior State Department officials. Some news from home reached me during my travels. I was particularly pleased to hear of the reduction in the Labour Weekend road toll. We can't celebrate, in light of a young man's death, and our thoughts are with his family and friends as they grieve. However, we can be satisfied that our work and the public's support made a major contribution to preventing many more tragedies. We and our partner agencies will redouble our efforts to ensure this downward trend continues. By the time this blog is published I'll be en route back to New Zealand. As fascinating as Colombia and the US are, I'm looking forward to seeing Rangitoto Island as my plane arrives in Godzone. And I look forward to being back at work at PNHQ this weekend. As always, stay safe and look after each other. :thumbs:	WalOne (4202)
1358373	2013-10-31 19:53:00	Thanks Wal. As interesting as always.	tut (12033)
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