Provincial Police Commander (PPC) Central Province Superintendent Patricia Leta urges her officers to understand the power of the media and utilise it to disseminate information to the communities about the work of the police.
Speaking at the opening of a five-day Media Awareness Workshop at the Tulagi Police Station today 7 May, PPC Leta says, “Media is one of the most powerful entities in the world today. The media gets your message to a wider audience and it also influences our societies.”
“That is why we as police officers must understand how the media works so we are able to tailor our messages to mitigate public confidence, transparency and accountability in everything we do in the RSIPF,” says PPC Leta.
Superintendent Leta adds: “I encourage you my officers who have been selected to attend this training to make use of this opportunity as this program will really help us understand why it is important to work with the media and to be motivated to provide updates on our activities. This is a golden opportunity to help us market the RSIPF to members of the public.”
PPC Leta says, “I want to thank the Commissioner of Police, Matthew Varley for endorsing this training program and Commander of the Solomon Islands Police Development Program (SIPDP) John Tanti for funding the Program.
Twelve participants including the PPC and Heads of Units at the Tulagi Police Station are attending the training. Two other female participants, besides the PPC, are also attending the training which will go on until this Friday 11 May.
During the Media Awareness Training participants will be briefed on the RSIPF Commissioner’s Order on Media, the RSIPF Media Strategy, expectations of the Media, how to draft a media release, interview techniques, photography, dealing with media enquiries and developing relations with the media.
At the end of the Training participants will be expected to produce several media releases covering reports of crime and other activities by the police in Central Province.
The Media Awareness Training is being coordinated by SIPDP as part of the strengthening of the capability of the RSIPF Media Unit to market the RSIPF with the aim of increasing the confidence of communities in the Force.
The Training, which started at the Gizo Police Station in Western Province early in February this year, has so far been held at the Auki, Kirakira and Buala, Taro and Lata Police Stations. It is expected to be held at all the other provincial centres including Honiara City by the end May this year.