About SPICIN - Organization History
In October, 1987, the South Pacific Islands Criminal Intelligence Network, SPICIN, was created by the 17 police executives of the South Pacific Chiefs of Police Conference (SPCPC) during the 16th Annual Conference hosted by the American Samoa Government Department of Public Safety as a direct result of growing crime problems in the Pacific and a weak information sharing process among the affected nations.
SPICIN was the product of many years of discussions and deliberations which began in Fiji in 1970, when then Commissioner of the Royal Fiji Police identified the need for regional cooperation in law enforcement, and for a method of exchanging criminal information, experience and technology between island nations. At the 14th Annual conference held in Apia in 1985, Commissioner P.U. Raman of the Fiji Police presented a paper entitled "Liaison of Regular Basis" which stated: "Although we are members of the INTERPOL network and rely on it for help, cooperation and finalizing of a case of international magnitude, we still need regular criminal intelligence circulated among us to keep us informed of important criminal events within our region." At the 16th Annual Conference held in Pago Pago in 1987, then Commissioner David Willie Saul of Vanuatu Police Force presented a paper entitled, "Regional Drugs Intelligence Unit" which became the catalyst for continuing the discussion towards the creation of a regional criminal intelligence system.
Commissioner Saul stated:
"Experience has shown that the Pacific Island territories are used as transiting points for drug running to our larger neighbors of New Zealand and Australia. During the past decade, a number of major incidents are recorded on this. In fact, there currently is an operation going on in Vanuatu in this regard.
There has always been a ready assistance forthcoming from our larger neighbors when hard intelligence has indicated a bilateral or multilateral crime problems. However, I am of the view that the time is fast approaching when there should be established a regional crime, drugs, intelligence unit to coordinate and disseminate information for unified action to combat what I see as increasing problems.
I, therefore, suggest initial discussion in this form on location, staffing, funding, and terms of reference before approaching our respective governments to ask their approval for the establishment of such an organization and then assistance with accommodation and technology from our larger neighbors."
The Conference agreed to the formation of a sub-committee that was tasked to convene and report to the Conference their evaluation of the regional crime threat and methods to coordinate criminal intelligence among the island nation's law enforcement agencies. Chaired by the American Samoa Department of Public Safety delegate, Deputy Commissioner Michael R. Sala, the sub-committee on Drug and Criminal Intelligence was composed of Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner John Johnson and Assistant Commissioner Raymond McCabe, New Zealand Deputy Commissioner John Jamieson, Cook Islands Deputy Commissioner Tevai Matapo, Saipan Department of Public Safety Director Edward Manibusan, Solomon Islands Police Commissioner Fred Soaki, Vanuatu Commissioner of Police David A. Saul, and Western Samoa Police superintendents T.S. Galuvao and Fetalaiga Kirisome. Mr. Jack Morris, Manager of Bureau of Organized Crime and Criminal Intelligence, California State Department of Justice, provided supportive presentation on the importance of coordinated intelligence sharing. As a result of the sub-committee's report to the General Assembly, the Conference adopted the regional intelligence unit called the SOUTH PACIFIC ISLANDS CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE NETWORK (SPICIN) and Conference delegates voted to participate in the network. The Conference designated American Samoa as the Control Center after recognizing that American Samoa had already in place an intelligence network under its Special Task Force on Narcotics and White Collar Crime Enforcement and was willing to administer the network. Government agencies and law enforcement organizations who sent representatives to the 1987 Conference encouraged the development of a regional intelligence unit, included: The California Department of Justice, FBI, US Customs, DEA, International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) President and others.
SPICIN serves as a clearing house for the cooperative exchange of criminal information to help detect and combat narcotics trafficking, white collar/organized crime, mobile criminals, money laundering, terrorism and other international crime. Criminal investigations within one island nation that involve citizens of another island nation are routed through SPICIN for the purpose of coordination and dissemination.
Today, SPICIN's membership totals 21 island countries and 11 member states. Each participating island nation sets up a liaison officer as point of contact between member countries and SPICIN Control Center.
The 21 island countries and 11 member states are:
* American Samoa
* Australia (New South Wales Police Service, Northern Territory Police Force, Queensland Police Department, South Australia Police Force, Tasmania Police, Victoria Police, Western Australia Police)
* Cook Islands Police
* Commonwealth of Northern Marianas
* Federated States of Micronesia (Pohnpei State Police, Yap State Police, Chuuk State Police, Kosrae State Police)
* Fiji
* French Polynesia
* Guam
* Kiribati
* Marshall Islands
* Nauru
* New Caledonia
* New Zealand
* Niue
* Papua New Guinea
* Palau
* Samoa
* Solomon Islands
* Tonga
* Tuvalu
* Vanuatu