Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Acting Commissioner of Public Safety Lauti Tautalasoo Moliga represented American Samoa at the 53rd Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Conference held in Saipan, Northern Marianas. The conference, themed “From Tradition to Transformation: Future Proofing Pacific Policing,” focused on strengthening collaboration and enhancing the region’s ability to address emerging and ongoing threats.

Ahead of the conference, officials from the Secretariat of the Pacific Islands Chief of Police visited the CNMI Department of Public Safety to discuss policing priorities. At the conclusion of the event, Pacific police chiefs announced the creation of a new regional policing organization to combat transnational crime — such as drug trafficking, human smuggling, child exploitation, money laundering, and firearms trafficking.

Reports out of CNMI noted that Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Commissioner David Manning said the new Pacific Community of Policing (PACPOL) would improve intelligence sharing, cooperation, and joint law enforcement efforts across the region.

Manning, named PACPOL's inaugural chair, announced the initiative on Oct. 16, the final day of the 53rd Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Conference, at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan in Garapan.

The final-day press conference was the only occasion local media were invited to cover the four-day gathering, hosted by the CNMI Department of Public Safety from Oct. 13 to 16, 2026.

Manning identified transnational crime as the region's biggest policing challenge, with criminal networks exploiting gaps in cooperation among Pacific jurisdictions.

“Transnational crime is crime that basically does not respect borders.“It is drug trafficking. It is the human smuggling. It's the child sexual exploitation of our young girls and boys in the Pacific.”

He also cited money laundering and firearms trafficking as threats requiring a coordinated regional response.

PACPOL unites the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police and the Pacific Police Initiative under one Pacific-led body, with its constitution formally endorsed at the Saipan conference.

“PACPOL’s success will be measured by our collective efforts to dismantle criminal networks, intercept illicit drugs and firearms, and work together to protect our communities,” Manning said.

He explained that the organization would pool expertise, training, intelligence, and operational resources to disrupt criminal networks operating across national boundaries.

When asked whether PACPOL would eventually function like a regional version of Interpol, Manning acknowledged that this was the goal.

“That is the aim, yes. That is our intent, but there's a lot of work that needs to be done,” he said.

Manning stressed that cooperation would respect the sovereignty and laws of individual Pacific jurisdictions rather than impose uniform policing procedures.

“We've discussed greater collaboration, greater information sharing. We respect at every step of the way the sovereignty of nations in the Pacific,” he said.

Under the arrangement, police chiefs and commissioners would continue meeting annually to exchange information, identify emerging threats, and determine appropriate regional responses.

For the CNMI, DPS Commissioner Anthony I. Macaranas said PACPOL would improve intelligence gathering and cooperation with neighboring police agencies and federal law enforcement partners.

“It's the [intelligence] gathering, you know, the cooperation among each other to help each other in combating some of the crimes happening, the transnational [crimes], the drugs, you know,” Macaranas told Marianas Press.

“We work together amongst the [chiefs], both the Pacific and the federal side,” he added.

Macaranas, who chaired the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police conference, said the annual gathering allowed regional law enforcement leaders to discuss common challenges and develop solutions to protect their communities.

He also welcomed the opportunity for the CNMI to host the conference despite the approaching Typhoon Champi.

“But, you know, even with the threat of the typhoon, we still make it happen,” Macaranas said.

Manning, meanwhile, said some transnational criminal threats originated outside the Pacific, but he declined to name specific countries because investigations were ongoing.

He said criminal organizations had exploited gaps in regional policing, turning their activities into domestic security threats.

“But by uniting under one PACPOL, one organization, we look forward to closing those gaps, making it more difficult, disrupting their networks, dismantling their networks,” he said.

PACPOL builds on over 50 years of regional police cooperation, beginning in 1970 with the South Pacific Chiefs of Police Conference and evolving into the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police in 2004 as membership expanded.

Today, PACPOL includes 23 Pacific nations and territories, such as American Samoa, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, and more.

Wallis and Futuna became the organization's 23rd member at the Saipan conference. Manning said the new organization would allow Pacific police forces to address security threats collectively while maintaining their respective national and territorial responsibilities