New top cop is a Mitiaro man

Cook Islander Maara Tetava took over as police commissioner on Wednesday 17 June.
He follows in the footsteps of New Zealander Pat Tasker who’s done a terrific job of improving the standards and morale of the islands’ police over the last two years.
The Robinson report painted a grim picture of the force but the boys (and girls) in blue now have much more public respect. They still cop a bit of flak from time to time but most people think they’re doing a reasonable job and absolutely everyone wants Maara Tetava to carry on the good work.
The weather on Wednesday was hot and what with all the speeches you had to feel sorry for the police standing on parade for several hours, especially the two drug dogs that had official uniform jackets as well as fur. Whew! Well, I was there for the march, which was accompanied by the Nikao Boys Brigade brass band, and the first few speeches but I had to leave everyone sweating and head off to another appointment so I missed out on the fun and games when the people of Mitiaro and Atiu got going.
According to the report in Cook Islands News, they sang and danced, dressed the new commissioner in traditional clothing, piled layers of ei around his neck and carried him on a paata around the parade area in front of the police station.
It was a great welcome for the country’s new top cop.