Take responsibility and deal with it, says Police Commissioner [1]
Thursday, August 24, 2017 - 19:35
Leadership training for 92 Tongan Police officers and staff has focused on accountability, authority and responsibility.
Tonga's Police Commissioner Stephen Caldwell said yesterday he expected to see a shift in police attitude when exercising their power.
He told graduates on 23 August they are accountable to the law, to the public, to the Tonga Police, to their staff and most importantly to themselves.
"You have learned about authority. You have the authority under the law and with your rank to make decisions and implement changes, do it and know the law," he said.
"With rank comes responsibility. It is referred to as burden of command. Don’t blame others, don’t push problems up, take responsibility that comes with your oath and deal with it and accept the consequences of your decisions."
He expected a shift in police staffs mindsets and attitudes towards how they exercise powers and authority according to law, solving problems and making decisions in their daily duty and, importantly, that they are accountable for their actions.
This training will be held for all officers and staff of Tonga Police, conducted by an Australian contractor Steve Longford, a National Manager, Human Skills for New Intelligence who will also train six permanent local officers as trainers to train remaining police staff in the next two-years.