By ELEANOR BLACK
South Pacific police chiefs are working to develop a coordinated approach to international organised crime at a Rotorua conference this week.
Commissioner Rob Robinson said yesterday that crime was now more global and new strategies to fight it were necessary. National police forces dealing with electronic crime, drug smuggling, money laundering and the trafficking of humans could not solve the problems in isolation.
Police and Governments worldwide were trying to standardise laws so that organised criminals could be detected and prosecuted, said Mr Robinson. International criminals targeted countries - such as smaller Pacific nations - which were seen to be easy marks, he said.
"It's a matter of us all working together, sharing intelligence, sharing legislative frameworks to have some congruence so we can deal with it."
Mr Robinson said that while policing issues throughout the Pacific were similar, there were differences of scale.
"The beauty of this conference is that everyone is equal, big or small, and we take these opportunities to build relationships so we can help each other."
Those relationships proved their worth during recent crises in Western Samoa, the Solomon Islands, the Cook Islands and, notably, Fiji, he said.
The South Pacific Chiefs of Police Conference is the fourth hosted by New Zealand in the 29-year history of the organisation, which now has 21 member nations.
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