The Tonga Deputy Police Commissioner Operations Support Services, Pelenatita Fea'o Vaisuai has commended officers for their efforts to curb crimes in the kingdom
According to statistics released by police, there was a 10% reduction in total offences under the Criminal Offences Act for the period July 2017 to June 2018 compared to the same period in the previous year.
“I would like to personally thank and commend the efforts of our Police staff who continue to show courage and dedication in keeping our communities safe, said Vaisuai.
According to Officer Vaisuai this year was a very busy year for the Ministry of Police, as there were major drugs busts, the general election and celebrations for the Rugby League World Cup.
A total of 451 people were arrested for public disorder during the period in review.
During the Operation Safer Streets, there were 1841 arrests.
There was however, a 7% is reduce in offences against the person, 14% reduction in offences against property and 11% reduction in willful damage to property and animals.
Deputy Commissioner Vaisuai said, “The drop in recorded crime levels means a reduction in the number of victims of crime. This is a positive result for Tonga. We continue to invest a lot of effort into working with the community to prevent crime. We have been working hard to improve our response to reports of crime and combined with our prevention focus we are seeing a reduction in crime which is, in turn, making our communities safer.”
“In order to continue this trend, we need to continue our focus on victims, prevention activities and efforts to reduce alcohol and drug related crime. Information from the public is vital for us to prevent crime,” Vaisuai said.
“We all have a role to play in reducing crime. If we all do our bit to watch out for our neighbors and fellow citizens and report suspicious activity, we can make a big difference and significantly reduce the number of victims of crime in our community. We must all hold offenders to account,” the DPC said.