Guadalcanal Police and RAPPP visit Henderson Inland Community

Officers of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) Guadalcanal Community Policing Unit at Henderson Police Station and the RSIPF-Australian Federal Police (AFP) Policing Partnership Program (RAPPP) visited Henderson Inland Community, last week, as part of their community engagements.

The Henderson inland community is a fast growing and mixed community found on the other side of the Henderson International Airport runway. The event, which was held to bring police closer to communities, was welcomed by community leaders.

Supervising Coordinator of the Guadalcanal Community Policing Unit Sergeant (Sgt) Paul Kalea said that visiting communities and delivering awareness fulfills the responsibility and roles of the RSIPF which is to work towards making Solomon Islands communities safe and secure.

He said engaging with communities is important as it will help police develop relationships with community members.

Sgt. Kalea said connecting with community members through awareness talks, sports and light refreshment will help communities to build trust and confidence in their police.

“Such engagement also promotes sharing of information that will help police officers when they carry out their duties. It also prevents potential crimes from being committed,” Sgt Kalea said.

Sgt Kalea thanked the RAPPP for its contributions to this process by helping their unit reach out to communities.

Henderson Inland Community Chief, Hudson Tuna, said they are happy to see police visiting their community.

Chief Tuna said there are issues experienced in their community and encouraged regular police presence.

“Looking after this community is tough. We have people from all the provinces here and our population is continuing to grow” chief Tuna said.

Roy Kimisi, a member of the RAPPP Community Engagement Program, said that during the visit, they encouraged youths to stay away from drug and alcohol and to be role models in their communities.

Kimisi said speakers from the RSIPF also delivered important messages which will go towards fulfilling the RSIPF’s crime prevention strategy.

He said sport activities were also organised to help community members and the police interact through fun games. Prizes were awarded to winning individuals and teams.

“We hope such program will get RSIPF and RAPPP members to interact and share with community members. Afterall, police are our friends,” Kimisi added.