In order to help its police partners in the Pacific region maintain their communities safe and secure online, the AFP is educating and upgrading police officers around the region in the investigation of cybercrime.

The Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police (PICP) founded Cyber Safety Pasifika (CSP) with the goal of raising cyber safety awareness in Pacific communities and enhancing the investigative capabilities of Pacific police.

To assist safety and security in the Pacific area, the AFP provides CSP on behalf of the PICP under the Pacific Police Development Program-Regional (PPDP-R). Over the past year, CSP has conducted training in Vanuatu, Kiribati, Fiji, Nauru, and Samoa, with participation from police officers from Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Solomon Islands, and Tonga.

The two primary foundational programmes of the CSP that participants participated in were Cyber Safety Awareness and Education Community Trainer and Cybercrime Investigations.

With the help of CSP's awareness and education programme, Pacific police partners are better equipped to speak to their communities about securely navigating the digital world. In keeping with the "by the Pacific, for the Pacific" principle, the programme also seeks to turn some of those partners into trainers, assisting Pacific police in taking the lead in future CSP course delivery.

The cybercrime investigation programme aids participants in comprehending and looking into crimes involving technology. The course gives Pacific police the skills and resources they need to respond to cyber threats and incidents in their particular surroundings.

365 Pacific police personnel have participated in a face-to-face CSP programme across 17 Pacific nations over the past five years. To guarantee that police personnel could continue to learn and upskill during the COVID-19 pandemic, programmes were given remotely.

To guarantee that CSP programmes are conducted by subject matter experts, the AFP collaborates with many institutions, including the Australian Cyber Security Centre, the Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre, Digicel, the FBI, Meta, and the New Zealand Police.

Growing cyber capabilities throughout the Pacific, according to AFP Detective Superintendent PPDP-R Kathryn Polkinghorne, is more crucial than ever.

According to Detective Superintendent Polkinghorne, "the CSP programme is extremely important to the Pacific region in raising community awareness and helping police officers improve their skills and awareness in the effort to combat cybercrime."

"Cybercrime is a growing issue as internet connectivity spreads throughout the Pacific area, so it's critical that law enforcement and the general public understand how to keep safe online.

The AFP is committed to collaborating with our partners to help the Pacific region participate safely in the digital world, highlighting the advantages that safe online connectivity brings to communities.

The CSP programme has recently been implemented by the AFP in Samoa and Nauru.

In addition to participants and observers from the Department of Education, Women's and Social Development Affairs, the Nauru Government Information Office, Nauru Media, and the Nauru Government Information, Communication and Technology, more than 50 police officers took part in the CSP programme that was held in Nauru.

The Nauru-Australia Policing Partnership (NAPP) programme, which has been in effect since the AFP's initial deployment to Nauru in 2004; successfully carried out the programme.

Iven Notte, the commissioner of the Nauru Police Force, is a fervent supporter of the CSP programme and believes that including important partners in its implementation will advance the community's understanding of cyber safety.

Protecting the Nauru community from cyber danger is crucial, according to Commissioner Notte.

The Nauru Police Force is better prepared to address these new issues with their partners thanks to the CSP training.

Two programmes that CSP successfully ran in Samoa involving participants from the police, prisons, and corrections services were also a success.

Leiataua Samuelu Afamasaga, the acting commissioner of the Samoa Police, began the training programme and stated that Pacific police may use the training to respond to cyber threats in their particular area.

"This course has given our participants the abilities and information necessary to excel in this industry. They have gained knowledge of the many types of cybercrime, the tools and methods that cybercriminals employ, and the legal procedures for investigating and prosecuting cybercrimes, according to Leiataua.

"The course has given our participants the chance to develop their analytical and problem-solving skills, and how to apply them in the real world," the statement reads.

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