Police to hire civilian support

By Sapeer Mayron 05 March 2019, 12:00AM

Civilians will be hired as police support during the Pacific Games in July. Police Commissioner, Fuiavailili Egon Keil said, this is to ensure the Samoa Police Service can continue regular work as well as staff the games. 

The Pacific Games will see thousands of athletes; officials and tourists flood Samoa in July, spread across 20 venues. 

Fuiavailili said the number will demand police and security presence but that cannot all come from police officers, so some civilians will be hired to help.

“We’re not enough, there are a lot of venues and there will be a lot of demand for security,” he said.

“We can’t have all the cops working at these venues for the Pacific Games and then somebody calls 911 or our number and we can’t respond, we have to work accordingly with that we have.”

The Commissioner said the Police have a working “think group” to prepare best for any issue that might arise during the games.

Australia continues to support Samoa’s Pacific Games preparation, and will be giving police two 30 seat coach buses as well as new motorcycles.

They will also be funded to add several radio channels to their talking radio devices, as they currently only have two. A donation of T$21,585 worth of police life jackets is also part of Australia’s support, Fuiavailili said.

“I’d like to also thank the Ministry of Finance, who have really supported us on financing.

“And all the other ministries and members of the public who give us some ideas of some stuff we haven’t even thought about, these entities are giving us some other ideas to think about as we approach the Pacific Games.”

By Sapeer Mayron 05 March 2019, 12:00AM

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