Command group an important link - Henry

SENIOR police officers who sit in the Command Group with the Commissioner of Police must know what is happening within their units.

This is the advice of Fiji’s first chief of intelligence and investigations, assistant commissioner Henry Brown.

Speaking as a guest on

The Fiji Times online news portal, The Lens@177, Mr Brown said the Command Group was an important link between the commissioner and the Government.

“The Command Group sits and briefs the commissioner in whatever medium they have, like daily or every second day or once a week,” said Mr Brown.

“That readies the commissioner for external briefings to the minister, to the Prime Minister or even to the President when the need arises.

“So, it’s very important that each command, each director, each assistant commissioner is really wellversed with his functions.

“They come and brief the commissioner and keep him up to date.

“From that fair and proper decisions are made. There is proper utilisation of resources. So, it is important to have the right people sitting there.”

Mr Brown said each senior ranked officer must always ensure they keep improving themselves by engaging in educational courses.

“You need to have that knowledge. You cannot have your warriors at the bottom more knowledgeable than you.

“The door is always open by other agencies. They know that. They know that it’s always open to negotiate and pick the right courses.

“I think right now the important courses would be covert operational courses for middle management.

“Those that 10 years or 20 years coming into the force. They have to start preparing the younger officers for leadership roles.”

From that fair and proper decisions are made. There is proper utilisation of resources. So, it is important to have the right people sitting there – Henry Brown