The recent break-in of a residence in the Tafuna area, the same area where there were a series of break-ins several months ago, did not sit well with Tualauta faipule Larry Sanitoa who has appealed to newly appointed Deputy Commissioner Vaimaga Maiava regarding this issue.

Sanitoa sought Vaimaga’s assistance to look into an incident reported by a constituent over the weekend. “It is disturbing and worrisome, given Commissioner Haleck's reply in May 2014 about DPS taking steps to address these same problems and concerns. Please, I am curious to know the progress status of our Neighborhood Watch Program after the subsequent meeting in June to follow up on these same issues.”

Sanitoa noted that he will be sending another correspondence to Commissioner Haleck asking for an update on DPS plans to address the ongoing problems and the latest on the Neighborhood Watch Program. The Tafuna resident told the Tualauta faipule in an email that his home had been burglarized.

“My home was burgled on Tuesday night. Someone broke in the front door while we were home asleep. They jimmied the lock and I didn't have the deadbolt locked.” According to the resident, the culprits stole a laptop and some music equipment.

“I have renter’s insurance but I cannot get back the music recordings that were on the laptop. They stole the thumb drive that had the back-up data on it, as well.” He expressed his sadness over the matter and suggested to Sanitoa the need to warn the residents of Tualauta about this break in so that other people can watch out for burglars. 

In May this year, near this same area, close to ten homes were burglarized where electronics, money, a bike and cell phones were taken according to owners of the residences, who are highly concerned.

The number of burglaries that took place was confirmed by a police officer at the Tafuna West Substation who’s currently investigating. Around that time too, Commissioner Haleck called on Tualauta residents, telling them that they need to band together with their neighbors if possible to organize and create a “Neighborhood Watch Program” themselves for added protection and to assist DPS by reporting any suspicious activities right away to 911 whenever they see strangers in their respective areas that don’t belong there.

This was Haleck’s response to Sanitoa when Sanitoa had raised concerns over the reported series of break-ins in May. The Tualauta faipule had written to Haleck, asking what DPS was doing to address the issue. Emails to the Commissioner for a comment on this matter were unanswered as of press time.