The Samoa Police Service is the unitary national

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

force of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

. In 2022 the numbers of officers increased numbering around 900-1,100 Samoan police officers. Duties include maintaining the correctional facilities, maintaining order in traffic, assisting in search and rescue, identifying and addressing crimes of most concern to the community, raiding drug and gun dealers, and upgrading and improving

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...

for crime investigation and national security. There are three corrections facilities in Samoa: Tafaigata Prison, Vaiaata Prison and a juvenile facility.

Description

Operations

The Samoa Police Service operated the before it was ran aground in 2021. ''Nafanua II'' was provided to Samoa by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

as part of the Pacific Patrol Boat Program. ''Nafanua II'' was delivered on August 16, 2019, replacing the original , delivered in March 1988. The original ''Nafanua'' underwent a $T5.5 million refit in Australia in December 2004. Between 1988 and 2004, the ''Nafanua'' sailed a total of , performed over 12,000 hours of fisheries patrol and was involved in the search and rescue of over 400 people. Police officers are generally unarmed, but may be armed in exceptional circumstances with the approval of the Minister of Police.

International operations

Samoa has provided police officers to the

Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), also known as Operation Helpem Fren, Operation Anode and Operation Rata (by New Zealand), was created in 2003 in response to a request for international aid by the Governor-General of ...

since July 2003. Samoan Police officer Laulala Siitia is contingent commander of the Samoan police serving as part of RAMSI's Participating Police Force (PPF). Samoa's police service also served in

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...

as part of a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

peacekeeping effort to maintain peace and security in the region in 2000.

Crime in Samoa

Reports of organized gang members growing and selling

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

have become common in Samoa. In the early hours of 7 May 2012, Samoan police officers received gunshot wounds during a police raid in Faleatiu village near

Apia Apia () is the capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. ...

. Sources said that there was a shoot-out between police and people involved living on this particular land when the drug raid took place. Faleatiu village has been the target of police investigations as one of the main sources of cannabis. In recent years, reports of organized crime occurring in parts of Samoa were noted. The growing of cannabis and selling it. The import of weapons into Samoa from neighbouring countries including the United States has raised alarming concern over the possibility of increased gun crime in Samoa and the possible import of these weapons to New Zealand, which was described in a New Zealand journalist's report as a 'warzone' if this were to be.

Overseas support

Australia will build a new police headquarters in the Samoan capital Apia as part of a major initiative to strengthen the police service. The Samoa Australia Police Partnership operates within the framework of the Samoa Australia Partnership for Development and is founded upon an institutional relationship between the Samoa Police Service and the Australia Federal Police (AFP) within the broader context of external support to Samoa’s law and justice sector. The Samoa Australia Police Partnership is a component of the Pacific Police Development Program, which is a Government of Australia initiative supporting a broad range of bilateral and multi-country police capacity development initiatives throughout the Pacific region. The Samoa Australia Police Partnership commenced in January 2009, prior to which AusAID provided support for police capacity development under the Samoa Police Project (SPP) (2004–2008). While it is widely recognized that noticeable improvements in SPS performance were achieved during the life of the SPP, it is also acknowledged that ongoing assistance to the SPS is required. With a new Commissioner having been appointed in September 2009, and a new senior executive, it is an opportune time for the AFP to forge a new program of assistance to the SPS.

References

External links

*http://jawsamoa.blogspot.com/2006/09/preferential-treatment-of-media-by.html *http://www.isiservicescorp.com/mjcpatch.html {{Samoa topics, state=collapsed Government of Samoa Law of Samoa