Police expect an increase in certain crimes, says Qiliho

The Fiji Police Force expects an increase certain types of crime as a result of unemployment, said Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho.

The curfew and directives on social gathering has led to an overall decrease in crime.

Brigadier-General Qiliho said apart from the curfew arrests there has was a decrease in crimes with violence including murder and assault on women and children.

He said the Police had also noticed a shift in some crimes. They have arrested people cultivating marijuana in newer locations, a move from the traditional areas. Police have come across farms in islands which were previously not known for drug cultivation.

They also predict an increase in crimes like burglary, theft, obtaining money by deceit and robberies.

Brigadier-General Qiliho said they anticipated this change.

He said the Police’s national planning team had already started working on strategies to counter the predicted crime that would take place as a result of the economic impact of COVID-19.

So far, he said it was important that Police keep the tempo of their work at this level.

He has said so far the Police have managed to keep up with normal operations as well as the COVID-19 operations.

“We have our officers taking their Easter breaks and the short leaves that have not. This is, so they don’t burn out,” Mr Qiliho said. “We do not want anything to impact the operational footprint on the ground. We should at all times have the manpower to sustain us. “Issues that will come with unemployment, we had anticipated that after Tropical Cyclone Winston and again now we have started to see the impact of some of those on society.

“We have the stats from the last time, and our planning team is looking at that and starting our strategy towards that.”