Deputy Commissioner Tevita Vailea joined Tonga Police in 1992 and has 30 years’ experience in policing in various units including front line policing, road safety, search and rescue, investigation, forensic, police training, international peace keeping and police development projects. He is currently head of the Tonga Police Operation Command and a member of the Tonga Police Employment Committee (PEC) and Senior Executive Committee (SEC).
Deputy Commissioner Tevita Vailea is an accredited forensic specialist in the science of fingerprint & crime scene investigation. In 2015 he graduated from the FBI National Academy, Virginia USA and has been an active member for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) since 2015. He is a regional trainer and mentor in Pacific police fingerprint, crime scene and disaster victim identification (DVI). He was also a former member of the Pacific Police Forensic Accreditation Board
He is currently a member of the Pacific Police Training Advisory Group (PPTAG) and has been working with New Zealand Police and Australia Federal Police on capacity development projects across the Pacific police jurisdictions.
In 2016 Deputy Commissioner Tevita Vailea won the Pacific Island Chiefs of Police Chair (PICP Chair) Award.