The New Year marked a new beginning in the Ministry of Police and Prisons.
On 1 January 2015, it was legally separated into two departments, the Ministry of Police (MOP) on one side, and the Ministry of Prisons and Correction Services (MPCS) on the other.
It’s understood that a commissioner for MOP has not yet been appointed, but that for MPCS its Taitosaua Edward Winterstein.
Also to be finalized is the final separation of the two offices; although it’s understood that MOP will remain at the Police’s present Headquarters in Apia, and MPCS will be moved to Tafaigata Prison.
In an interview yesterday the Acting Police Commissioner, Fauono Talalelei Tapu, confirmed the separation was made legal on 1 January 2015.
However he explained that even though the Ministry has now been split in two, they were still going to work together as it had been in the past.
<script async src="http://www.samoaobserver.ws///pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- ads-articles(24.03.14) -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-9419815128221199"
data-ad-slot="2395638412"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>
Said Fauono: “Now it’s done. And if they need our help we can still assist. “But they are now operating on their own with Taitosaua being the Commissioner.”
So now that the Police and Prisons are separated, what does that mean?
It means, Fauono explains, that Samoa is now like New Zealand and other countries where prisons are run by their own staff.
“Anything to do with prison is with Taitosaua now,” he said.
“They have their own staff and they are now waiting for the appointment of their own Assistant Commissioner and 15 new officers.”
As for Police officers who were working at Tafaigata and want to return to the Ministry of Police, relevant arrangements have yet to be finalized.
Fauono explains: ”Very few officers want to return and the majority of them want to stay.
“The arrangements have yet to be finalized and those Police officers who want to return would have to wait until the prisons are stable and have enough staff.”
Fauono also explains that meantime a relevant Memorandum of Understanding between Police and Prisons is being prepared by the legal advisor.
Attempts to get a comment from Commissioner of Prisons and Correction Services yesterday were unsuccessful.
In a recent interview Taitosaua says so far he is pleased with the progress that has been made and now “we have a recruitment team for new officers.”
He reveals that his budget allows him to recruit at least 15 new officers subject to certain requirements.
“So I’m working on that at the moment in preparation for the separation,” he says.
At the moment, there are 50 police officers working for the Prisons. But Taitosaua said he needs at least another 80.
“I’m grateful though for the assistance from Police,” he says. “We still need to work hand in hand.
“In one area, we rely on the Police to enforce the law. On the other side, we are keeping offenders in Prison so we still have to work together.”
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-2469982834957525"
data-ad-slot="1033882026"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>{/googleAds}