Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Chief of Police, Pouu’amea Tuaolo Supapo has hit back at Deputy Attorney General, Roy Hall over questioning the number of criminal cases pending prosecution.

 “The numbers are accurate — in January 2022 alone there were more than 100 cases referred to the Attorney General’s office, and up to now we are still waiting.

I also have email correspondence to confirm this. I didn’t pull those numbers out of thin air,” said DPS Chief Supapo.

The Police Chief’s comments follow a rebuttal by the Deputy Attorney General, Hall dimissing reports by the DPS Police Chief’s statement that there are close to 200 criminal cases pending with the Attorney General’s office.

 “Your information as to the number of pending cases is incorrect,” said Hall earlier this month to this Samoa News reporter.

But Police Chief Supapo stands her ground on the information relayed to Samoa News regarding “cases pending prosecution” being close to 200.

She further told Samoa News there is no misinformation on her part.

“I gave the confirmation after concerns were raised by the public, which has reached the media.

 “The response was to shed light on the facts and also for members of the public that continue to blame the police for not doing their work, when in fact, we did our due diligence,” she said.

Furthermore, Supapo said, the AG’s office needs to do their job and prosecute cases.

As reported earlier, during a phone interview, Supapo told Samoa News that it is “concerning” that a number of cases are pending prosecution with the AG’s office.

 “There are not enough prosecutors at the AG’s office and also they are leaning towards their prosecution discretion in many of the police cases with their office,” she said.

 “There is only one prosecutor working at the moment to prosecute our cases. I am concerned as Chief of Police.

“There are families seeking justice in their cases, while we are doing our job, we cannot say the same for the AG’s office, and we have no control over how they do their job,” said Supapo.

This did not sit well with Mr Hall who said that no “communication” was relayed to him by the Chief of Police.

 “I have not received any communication from Chief of Police of DPS Pouuamea Tuaolo Supapo to verify your statement,” said Hall.

He further pointed out they have two criminal prosecutors.

 “We have two prosecutors and three AAGs (Assistant Attorneys General) that also assist in managing the criminal calendar.”

He said COVID created challenges for the prosecutors and the public defenders office.

 “But since July of this year we have taken action with the court’s schedule to prosecute cases and setting jury trials.”

Mr Hall did not stop there and questioned the legitimacy of the comments rendered by the Chief of Police to Samoa News during the interview and said that it should have come from Supapo’s superiors.

“You should verify all statements or information from a higher source in the DPS, before you contact me,” said Hall, who also questioned this reporter’s credentials as a reporter.