When Pacific police make the news, it's usually little to do with clarinets and trombones.
But when officers from Australia and six Pacific Islands nations recently arrived in Port Moresby for the inaugural police tattoo as part of Papua New Guinea's 50th anniversary celebrations, the spotlight was squarely on music and marching.
The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary led the July 22 bash following a Pacific policing forum.
A tattoo is a musical performance or display by armed forces.
Visiting outfits from Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Nauru, New Zealand and Samoa participated along with the Australian Federal Police Pipes and Drums band.
AFP assistant commissioner for the Pacific Nigel Ryan said the tattoo ran like clockwork "and if you know anything about the Pacific, that's pretty amazing to be able to co-ordinate all of those bands and all of those musicians".
Music was a key part of Pacific culture and way of life, which gave police an opportunity to build trust and confidence within communities, he said.
"What we've been able to do is harness that music and the culture and bring it all together," he told AAP.
"I think that probably the greatest outcome is actually being able to really connect across the entire Pacific with our communities."
There was already interest in a second tattoo parade, which could become an annual or biannual event after Fiji expressed interest in hosting the next one, the assistant commissioner said.
"You only had to look around at some of the police chiefs watching on with their band, how proud they were and how everyone came together to know that it was very, very significant," he said.
"Not just the event but what it meant to them to be showcasing schools and their police forces across the Pacific."
AFP band member Stephen Ladd said bringing the cultures together boosted important partnerships.
"Music bridges culture and language barriers and brings everyone together," he said.
Fiji Police Force's band master assistant superintendent Bausema Lillnatabua said music was important in her culture because it was a way to pass on knowledge, customs and culture through generations.
For a lot of officers from the Solomon Islands, it was the first time they left the country to perform music and that was a great honour, Constable Fred Maedola said.
It also boosted connections with other Pacific Islands officers as well as Australian and New Zealand counterparts, as musicians practised with those who played the same instrument rather than in their force's band, he said.
"That's how we ease in and mingle together and we get to know each other," he said.
