The Tuvalu Police Force is the national

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

force of

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-nor ...

, it is headquartered in

Funafuti Funafuti is the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,320 people (2017 census), and so it has more people than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with approximately 60% of the population. It consists of a narrow sweep of lan ...

and includes a Maritime Surveillance Unit, Customs,

Prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

s and

Immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

Police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

s wear British style

uniform A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, ...

Police powers and responsibilities

The police service is managed in accordance with the Police Powers and Duties Act (2009) and the Police Powers and Duties Regulations (2012). The powers of arrest and search are described in Part III of the Criminal Procedure Code (1963). The Penal Code (1965) is a codification of what crimes under Law of Tuvalu. This legislation is published online by the Office of the Attorney General of Tuvalu; also by the Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute, with the law set out in the 2008 Revised Edition; with a list of current legislation (up to 2012).

Status under the Constitution of Tuvalu

According to the Constitution of Tuvalu, Police badge of Tuvalu

Role in maritime surveillance

The HMTSS ''Te Mataili'', a Pacific Forum patrol vessel, given to Tuvalu, from Australia, from October 1994 to early 2019. Australia agreed to provide these vessels to smaller neighbours in the Pacific Forum, after the United Nations Convention on Laws of the Seas extended maritime nations Exclusive Economic Zones to 200 kilometers. Australia agreed its own security was improved if it gave its smaller neighbours vessels that enabled them to protect their own sovereignty, perform search and rescue, fishery patrol, and prevent smuggling. Australia replaced the ''Te Mataili'' with a larger and more capable Guardian class patrol vessel in April, 2019, named HMTSS ''Te Mataili II''.

Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands

Tuvalu provided police officers to the

Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), also known as Operation Helpem Fren, Operation Anode and Operation Rata (by New Zealand), was created in 2003 in response to a request for international aid by the Governor-General of ...

from December 2004. Tuvaluan Police officer Fanini Maleko was the contingent commander of the Tuvaluan police serving as part of RAMSI's Participating Police Force (PPF).

Social institutions of Tuvalu

Each island has its own high-chief, or ulu-aliki, and several sub-chiefs ( alikis). The community council is the ''Falekaupule'' (the traditional assembly of elders) or te sina o fenua (literally: "grey-hairs of the land"). As defined in the Falekaupule Act (1997), '' Falekaupule'' means "traditional assembly in each island...composed in accordance with the Aganu of each island". ''Aganu'' means traditional customs and culture. Section 41 and Schedule 3 of the Falekaupule Act (1997) provides that “ shall be the duty of every Falekaupule and of every Kaupule to use its resources to assist the police in the detection and prevention of crime within the area of its authority.”

References

External links

THE CONSTITUTION OF TUVALU
* https://web.archive.org/web/20070928014119/http://www.ramsi.org/node/29 * http://www.tuvalu-news.tv/archives/2006/12/tuvalu_police_toughening_up_on.html * http://www.tuvaluislands.com/gov_addresses.htm * http://www.isiservicescorp.com/mjcpatch.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Law enforcement in Tuvalu Politics of Tuvalu Law of Tuvalu