An overhaul is needed at the Afega Police Post with fresh personnel who will serve the nation, and the people and uphold the law without fear or favour. It seems the current batch of people stationed at Afega are not fit enough to do this.

A family in Leauvaa had to watch a family member get assaulted by men from Afega as police officers allegedly stood and watched the incident, according to an elderly woman.

After the alleged assault stopped, one of the police officers at least had the decency to allegedly give the family $25 to catch a taxi and take the injured to the hospital.

For now, all things that happened last Thursday are just allegations. The police allegedly watched without interfering to save a man, the police then allegedly after witnessing the incident did not charge anyone, and then the police allegedly did not take the injured man to the hospital.

On Monday, the Samoa Observer queried the Deputy Police Commissioner, Papalii Monalisa Tiai-Keti on the matter and said she was not made aware of the case. She said the outpost in Afega is where the Afega and Leauvaa disputes are reported.

Papalii contacted the Afega outpost for an update but said there was no such case that was reported to them nor a complaint was lodged.

However, Papalii confirmed that specifically for the Leauvaa and Afega case, once someone is assaulted, the police who are present at the road works will have to be involved.

"I am not aware of that case but if someone is assaulted like that then the police are obliged to investigate and press charges if need to," she said.

Asked whether they pressed any charges, the family said they decided to forgive them and move on although they initially wanted to complain.

The family added that the police's lack of responsibility in not doing their job played a big part in their decision not to complain as they had lost their trust in the police.

"Who would want to file complaints after seeing what they did, that they can never stand up for us? But anyways, God sees the truth and judges people by their actions," said the mother of the man who was beaten.

This is the last thing that is needed for people to lose their faith in the police. The top brass of the Samoa Police has worked very hard to bring together officers who would keep their oath, serve the people, and above all uphold the law.

Now why would the police turn a blind eye to the situation where a man is beaten? A month ago, a police officer assaulted a woman who was allegedly being violent in Apia, what happened at Afega? Was there some kind of compromise that was reached in Afega? Does this have to do with a ‘gift’ that was offered to the police officers? According to the account of the elderly woman, honest police officers would not allegedly stand and watch a man get beaten almost to death.

An honest police officer would have intervened to stop the violence which started over name-calling. An honest police officer would ensure charges are laid on people who allegedly assaulted the young man, who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Honest police officers would have also called an ambulance or taken the man to hospital in a police vehicle.

The misdeeds of a few will tarnish the reputation and hard work of the majority of the officers who are diligently doing their work. This is something the police in Samoa also do not need to worry about as they are gearing up for the biggest task they will carry out yet, providing security and logistics during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings in October.

The police are the initial faces of law enforcement and commence the criminal justice process and thus hold significant responsibility for functioning law and order. As key representatives of the state, the integrity of the police in all societies is pivotal to retaining public trust in the rule of law and the preservation of internal security.

When police corruption is exposed or is perceived by the public to be prevalent, confidence in and communal relations with the police force become disjointed. The poor credibility of the police also negatively impacts the legitimacy of the government. Negative public perceptions of both the police and government are particularly troublesome in violently divided societies.

There needs to be an investigation because if these police officers have turned a blind eye to a man getting beaten senselessly, then how many other things have they turned a blind eye to? There is an oath all police officers take, it is time to uphold that oath.