“I came into the force not just as an employment opportunity but with a heart to serve my people and this beautiful country, uplift the laws and to maintain peace and stability of this nation,” says 45-year-old Sergeant John Manegaua of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF).
Sergeant Manegaua, from Guadalcanal Province, has been in the RSIPF for the past 16 years. He is currently a supervisor in the National Community Policing Department in Honiara. He is married with two children.
“Since I joined the Force in 2001, there was little development, but I started to see a lot of changes after the arrival of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands in 2003. This includes changes in salary, housing, logistics, recruitment, human resources, finance and many more,” says Sergeant Manegaua.
He adds: “One of the changes is the increase in the number of female officers being recruited into the RSIPF. I have served along with female officers during my 16 years in the Force and I must say the female officers are usually very serious with their duties and they perform just like their male colleagues.”
“At the same time female officers perform better than their male colleagues in certain areas such as keeping the records in the charge office, investigations, administration, beat patrols, traffic cases and prosecution,” says Sergeant Manegaua.
“I want to encourage more of our young women to apply to join the RSIPF as some of the tasks within the Force can only be performed better by female officers than their male counterparts. This includes dealing with the victims of gender-based violence which most of the time are women and girls.”
Sergeant Manegaua concludes: “I really love my current position within the National Community Policing Department as I get to meet a lot of different people as we visit communities, schools and churches during our awareness programs.”