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Local media blamed for public posting rude remarks about DPS officers

Police Commissioner, Le’i Sonny Thompson
Commish says his previous statements before the Fono were twisted
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Police Commissioner Le’i Sonny Thompson defended his previous statement that only 6 out of 251 applicants passed the entrance exams for the current Police Academy, and the “results are really bad”, during his appearance before the House Public Safety Committee last week.

Le’i told members of the committee that “some people failed the entrance exams and that’s part of life, but they’re very smart people.”

He then blamed the local media coverage for twisting his previous statements, which caused members of the public to post rude comments against police officers by calling them names such as “fat cops” and “idiot cops”.

A house hearing was called last Friday to discuss issues pertaining to the safety of the people of Aunuu crossing the channel to get to and fro during bad weather.

Le’i and the Director of the Department of Homeland Security (DHL) Alfonzo Pete Galea’i were called to testify in the hearing, chaired by Rep. Manumaua Wayne Wilson.

When given the chance to address witnesses, House Vice Speaker Fetu Fetui Jr directed several questions to the police commissioner that didn’t pertain to the Aunuu issue.

The House Vice Speaker said that according to reports he received, over ten applicants failed the drug test but are still in the Police Academy. He said that when he received the reports, “it really bothered him” because he doesn’t want something like this to happen in DPS.

Another question Fetui Jr asked was about an applicant who passed the entrance exam but was not hired by DPS.

Le’i was not happy with the questions.

He told members of the committee that if there’s any representative who has questions regarding DPS services like what Fetui Jr has asked, he would prefer that these types of questions be addressed or directed to him privately, so that he can do an investigation and respond straight to the faipule in person — with a signed letter by him —  instead of raising such questions publicly during a committee hearing.

Le’i said he doesn’t want to discuss issues like this in the presence of the media because by the time the news gets to members of the public, the information is not right and members of the public receive the wrong message. As a result, according to Le’i, people then post rude comments about DPS, especially against police officers.

“Those in the police force are respected sons and daughters of American Samoa and they are very dear to their parents, spouses, children, especially their families. They serve the people with love and respect — but it’s day after day and month after month, members of the public continue to bad mouth cops through their comments on social media,” Le’i said.

He denied reports that there are applicants attending the current Police Academy that failed the drug test. He told the committee that they follow the law and everyone attending the academy passed the drug test.

Speaking about the police academy, Le’i said his previous comment about the entrance exam for the police academy was not correct — he had rushed his response to the question by the Manu’a #2 Representative regarding the outcome of the entrance exams for the police academy.

He said that the normal passing marks for any entrance exam is 70%, adding that those who failed the entrance exam were also given the chance to attend the police academy after they were interviewed and passed the interview.

“70% is the normal passing mark in any type of exam, including entrance exams, and despite most of them not making the 70% you can easily tell the status of how this person is going to do in the academy for 5 months,” the police commissioner said.

 He further stated that there are people who have a hard time taking tests, but they’re smart people, and this is a proven.

The police commissioner stated that if someone doesn’t get the passing mark of 70% in the entrance exam that means something is wrong.  “It may not be the kid, it may be the curriculum in the school,” he said.

Le’i further stated that most of the time people sit an entrance exam it’s because they’re looking for job. They really don’t want to be cops, they’re [just] looking for jobs.”

He repeatedly said that people are posting rude comments about police officers on social media, calling them different names such as “fat cops” or “idiots”. Le’i told members of the committee that the Instructors for the police academy are senior police officers who have served in the force for over 20 years.

“Our duty is to protect government leaders including honorable senators and representatives and everyone,” Le’i said, adding that every morning before work starts, he always advises police officers and also those who are in the police academy to conduct their duty with love and respect  and where ever they go, “don’t forget that your duty is to serve and protect.”

Rep. Timusa Tini Lam Yuen asked if there’s a chance for those who failed the entrance exam to retake the test again before the academy is completed. Le’i replied, “They can retake the test but we don’t have a plan to retest them.”

Le’i told members of the committee that some people have a hard time taking tests and we all experience that in life. When you sit down ready for a test and your mind goes blank — that doesn’t mean you can’t do it.

Again, Le’i said that there is no need to redo the entrance exam for those who failed the first test. The most important thing for them is that they have to pass the academy.

Timusa disagreed with what Le’i said. He said that he personally believes that everyone who failed the first exam must retake the exam again.

“I don’t believe that anybody who failed the entrance exam can become a cop or go out to serve the public. If you don’t pass the entrance exam, you can assign them to other duties inside the DPS office but not as a police officer,” Timusa told Le’i.

Fetui Jr echoed Timusa’s statement.

As a former cop, Fetui Jr told the police commissioner that to become a police officer is not easy. You have to go through test after test to become a cop. A cop also needs to pass the entrance exam.

He told Le’i that he still remembers the time when he sat the entrance exam because he wanted to be a police officer back in the day. There were 385 people who sat the entrance exam and only 51 slots were available. Out of ten people from Manu’a who sat the exam, only Malaepule [Fuega Moliga] and he passed the entrance exam.

“The reason I bring this issue up Mr. Commissioner was the fact that to become a police officer is not an easy task. You have to make sure your mind and body are ready for the task,” Fetui Jr said.

He told Le’i that no one should become a cop if that person failed the entrance exam.

BACKGROUND

Samoa News reported on the new Police Academy at the end July 2020 based on a hearing of the House Public Safety committee, where the police commission was a witness.

At the time, Le’i was questioned then by Manu’a #2 Rep. Tiaoalii Fau Sai, who asked why only females were hired for Ofu and Olosega, when there were also male applicants for the district.

In response to Tiaoalii’s question, Le’i said that while there were male applicants, only female applicants passed the test.

“I’m afraid to go into details with the test results because I have a lot of respect for these applicants’ families. But to be honest with your question, the results are really bad,” Le’i is reported to have said.

(Of note, out of the 6 who passed the entrance exam, 5 were women.)