An expert on Pacific journalism says daily crime reports are part and parcel of a communications strategy and regular contact with the local media is essential for an informed public.

In response to questions from the Samoa Observer, Dr. Shailendra Singh from The University of the South Pacific (U.S.P.) said Samoa Police’s recent adoption of a communication strategy reflected their willingness to inform the public and engage with it on a higher level.

He said the communication strategy could assist in crime prevention – just as the public needs the police, the police need the public’s help in crime prevention.

However, Dr. Singh said reports of the local media in Samoa having no input into the formulation of the strategy and being in the dark until its launching last week are a concern. 

"This is regrettable because the news media report crime daily, and ideally, they should be part and parcel of any communications strategy," said the academic, who is also an Associate Professor in Pacific journalism. "For the media to do their jobs well there needs to be regular communication with the police.

"For instance, there are reports that the Commissioner of Police or his Deputy has not had a proper press conference for months when such press conferences used to be a weekly event. There are other events to which the media were not invited, such as the recent launching of a Police boat funded by Japan. Hopefully, the police communications strategy will address these gaps. The police and the media need each other in their work."

Apia-based Australian Federal Police (AFP) officer and contact point for the Samoa-Australia Police Partnership (SAPP) program, Detective Superintendent Daniel Evans, told this newspaper in an email response on Tuesday this week that the Australian government through the SAPP supports the Samoa Police, Prisons and Corrections Services to build their capacity and capability.

"We have also funded external advisors to assist the SPPCS to further develop training, policy and governance, gender and communications," Mr. Evans said. "As part of the many projects conducted with the Samoa Police during 2022/23 we were pleased to assist the Samoa Police to produce the Communications Strategy and provide equipment to better support the production of media content. 

"The Communications Strategy is an internal document which aligns with the SPPCS Strategic Plan and is essential in guiding the organisation's internal and external communications approach to better engage with the members of the SPPCS and the community in a consistent manner. 

"Communications Strategy was one of many documents which made up a media toolkit to support consistency of information flow, content and operations of the media team. We encourage an ongoing positive relationship with the Media and have often provided media releases and provided media events where we have provided additional comment."

Mr. Evans was queried by this newspaper on whether the terms of reference (T.O.R.) for the communications consultant who drew up the communications strategy included media industry consultation, as one would expect when formulating such a public policy document.

The Journalists Association of Samoa (JAWS) President Lagi Keresoma, when contacted by this newspaper on Thursday, said the association was not contacted by the Ministry of Police.

"With regards to the issue at hand, the answer is no, JAWS was not contacted for anything," she said. 

Samoa's Ministry of Police, Prisons and Corrections Services last week announced that they will not convene any more daily press conferences except for big cases and will funnel all their communication through their newly formed media unit, in line with the parameters set by their recently launched communication strategy.