Samoa’s Police Commissioner Auapa’au Logoitino Filipo and his senior executives undertook their biannual inspection of police stations, police posts and prison facilities.

The inspection program is supported under the Samoa-Australia Police Partnership and allows the Samoa Police Services hierarchy to stay connected with their officers around the districts as well as work towards improving each outposts' working environment.

The visit ended on Saturday with the inspection of Savai’i outposts and engagement with the community served by the Vaito’omuli Police Station.

This allowed the Commissioner to have interaction with the community and understanding of their attitudes and perceptions of the police.

He said such interactions were very important as it allowed the community to work with the police and the police to serve the community better.

Village matai, Seumaugafagai acknowledged the passion and dedication of the Police to assist the village with renovating its pool (vaita’ele) known to them as the “vai o le Lupe”

Auapa’au in his remarks conveyed how this project is supported through the partnership of Samoa-Australia Police Partnership.

“Building this network can go a long way, and having this connection can assist the SPPCS greatly”, Auapa’au said.  

Australian Federal Police (A.F..P) Mission Commander, Daniel Evans said they were really privileged to be a part of the day.

“Partnership that we have with the police is built on honesty and trust; is also an important piece that is built on a police and community partnership, without the community there are no police, without the police, there is no safe community,” he said.

“Crime is tackling us not only from within but from overseas and now is the most important time that we come together”

The brief ceremony was then followed by the cutting of the ribbon to officially launch the reopening of the Vaito’omuli pool “Vai o le Lupe” with a photo session to conclude the ceremony with the village children taking a dip in the new renovated pool.

Auapa’au, the Police executive management and its A.F.P. partners during the visits took the time to converse with the officers-in-charge on the different aspects of their work around the districts these outposts cover.

Issues ranged from the number of staff members to discussing challenges they faced week in and week out.   

The Police’s ICT team were also on site to assist with any technical issues.