Early last week, Samoa News was approached by close to ten senior police and patrol officers, who stated that following the latest incident of alleged police brutality, they have developed morale issues from the public’s comments and criticism.

“We have been brutally attacked by the public verbally, with criticism, which has led me to the point where— if I’m to drive by where a public public peace disturbance is happening, I will have to think about my job versus what’s going on, given the criticism and the public perception if I do carry out my duty as a police officer,” said a senior officer.

Another lieutenant told Samoa News that the comments made by the public are very discouraging. However, the lieutenant noted that they have to really look at the arrest “to know the difference between making an arrest versus an actual assault.”

“Subduing someone who’s acting violently or who’s resisting arrest is not simple. It’s  within a split second that I as the police officer have to make the judgment call and act on it, yet a majority of the time we are making an arrest in public, people say we are actually assaulting them, but that’s not happening. I wish it was an easy task— making the arrest— yet subduing someone is rather difficult, especially when the suspect or the person is resisting arrest,” said the lieutenant.

A commander further told Samoa News that “we were trained on how to protect ourselves… and one universal rule police officers must follow is that we are not allowed to use excessive force or treat the arrestee cruelly. Generally, police officers are only allowed to use the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves and bring the suspect into police custody. This is why people are advised to never resist an arrest or argue with police. However the more a suspect struggles, the more force is required for us to do our job.”

The commander also stated that it should be noted that “every police department adds extra procedures and sometimes these procedures are designed to protect our physical safety.”

During a Samoa News interview with the Commissioner of Public Safety, William ‘Bill’ Haleck, last week Thursday, he said of the morale issue, “The police officers should not have that mindset.  When you’re in this uniform, you are subjected to all kinds of criticism, no matter if do you right or wrong. In respect to their own personal feelings, once they become police officers, it comes with the territory, good or bad.”

The latest allegations of police brutality are against a young man who is mentally challenged. The incident led to the temporary re-assignment of three police officers to “non-police” duties pending the outcome of the investigation. The Attorney General’s office has since said they are conducting their own independent investigation into this matter.  

 In an interview with Samoa News, the Commissioner said he will meet with his captains and commanders to make sure that this issue is addressed. “I will explain to them that they need to talk to the police officers that they still need to do their job, regardless of all the criticism, because the public depends on us.”

He said if there is an emergency or an incident they cannot take along this attitude. “If they respond to a call with the fear of repercussions, then everything will go wrong and that  mindset should be changed, we need to take care of business.”

The Commissioner reiterated that they cannot deviate from their duty and they “should let the card fall where it falls…. let’s put it this way — if they do their job, if they follow the procedures, they have nothing to worry about.”

“This is not the only arrest they made, this blew up because someone said they used excessive force; yet in our department we are arresting people every day.

“If the officers follow the arrest procedure guidelines without using excessive force then they should not worry about any kind of criticism or worry about losing their job. Especially if you’ve got witnesses around,” said Haleck.

Asked if the Department should consider hiring a professional psychiatrist for sessions with the officers, the Commissioner responded, “There’s no need, I will talk directly to them if that’s what needs to be done.”

Samoa News will further report on DPS issues that were discussed during our interview with the DPS Commissioner last Thursday.