Police work is not for the faint hearted and police officers that cannot handle it must quit, Commissioner of Police Brigadier Ioane Naivalurua said.
Commissioner Naivalurua noted that police work is now carried out in a complex contemporary environment.
The demand on the force now is greater than it was a decade ago and strong hearted officers are needed.
“The work at hand is huge and we don’t want people with a faint heart. We want people with a good strong heart, people who can do the job,” Brigadier Naivalurua said.
The Police Commissioner made the comments while opening the 16 weeks Basic Recruit Training course for police officers at the Fiji Police Academy.
He noted that the training of police officers would help the force achieve its vision of being the force for the nation by the year 2014.
“The work is about having a good heart and having good relationships with the community at large so therefore let me encourage you this morning - you make the most of it - open your mind - open your heart - absorb as much as you can in here - turn it over here and find out how it’s going to be useful for you after 16 weeks,” Brigadier Naivalurua said.
“I talk business because the work of a police officer is quite challenging, huge, difficult and it’s taken me 11 months to understand.
“It’s a front line job as you have heard from me many times - frontline job.
“We are exposed to threats, our lives are always out there wondering what’s going to happen next - that’s what police work is all about.
“Your friends and your families may have all the luxury of enjoying their time out there but you and I don’t have it.
“We are required to call on duty when you just got out of duty - that’s the nature and the work you and I do.
“I’ve been with you now for 11 months I’m enjoying every second, every minute, every hour, every day of the work at hand and for me the time is really short to able to achieve the targets that you and I would want to achieve by 2014.
“Our target by 2014 - the organization can be seen, known and we now can claim as force of the nation.
“The Fiji Police Force can then be called and we can stand up and tell the people of Fiji we are a force for the nation, to assure them that we are going to look after them to assure the people of Fiji all citizens of Fiji - that we are here to take care of you that’s really what all this is about.”
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