Kiribati
| Author | George Kurian |
| Pages | 553-554 |
Page 553
Official country name: Republic of Kiribati
Capital: Tarawa
Geographic description: A group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the equator, halfway between Hawaii and Australia
Population: 103,092 (est. 2005)
The Kiribati Police have their origins in the Gilbert Islands Police, which came into existence in 1976 following the separation of Gilbert Islands from the Ellice Islands.
The Kiribati Police are under the command of a commissioner of police, who has authority and presence on all the inhabited islands. The headquarters of the force is at Betio, on Tarawa. Under the commissioner, the line of command runs through superintendents (senior superintendent, superintendent, and assistant superintendent), inspectors, assistant inspectors, sergeants, and constables. The force includes female constables, who deal with sex crimes and juvenile delinquency.
A second police organization called the District Police supports the regular constabulary in certain areas. This force is a decentralized unit of part-time local police officers. It operates under the administrative authority of the area rather than the commissioner of police. The small islands may have only constables on duty and the overall strength may not exceed 200.
For operational purposes, the regular police is divided into four territorial districts serving (1) Ocean Islands, (2) Kiribati, (3) Phoenix, and (4) Line Islands. Small detachments are deployed to each district, where they are assigned to fixed police stations. The Ocean Island district has a single station. Kiribati has three stations located at Betio, Bairiki, and Bikenibeu on Tarawa and fifteen on other islands in the group. The Line Islands district has three stations on Washington, Christmas, and Fanning Islands.
Before independence and for many years after, most of the senior officers in the force were British or Australian expatriates, but now they are all native Kiribatians.
Education and Training. Recruits receive basic training in the Police School at Betio. For advanced training, personnel are sent to Fiji, Australia, or the United Kingdom.
The official uniform is khaki drill...
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