The Samoa Police Service is the unitary national

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

force of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

. 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. It can be described as t ...

for crime investigation and

national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...

. 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 ran aground in 2021. ''Nafanua II'' was provided to Samoa by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

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), began in 2003 in response to a request for international aid by the Governor-General of Solom ...

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 Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

as part of a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

peacekeeping Peacekeeping comprises activities, especially military ones, intended to create conditions that favor lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed w ...

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 that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

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

. 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