Police officers are set to become the first civil servants to be randomly tested for drugs. The Samoa Police, Corrections and Prisons Services is doing its bit to ensure its officers are as exemplary as possible.

This has been long overdue. It is heartening to see the Ministry of Police and Prisons supporting the calls for drug testing of its officers.

Police Commissioner, Auapaau Logoitino Filipo supports the idea and is refining internal policies to enable officers to undertake this crucial check.

“We are looking at next month or September to have random drug testing for our officers,” Auapaau said in an interview with the Samoa Observer.

“We are willing to do it given cases involving our staff and we must heed to it for the protection of our people.

“Our policy is being refined so that it doesn’t discriminate and target certain individuals suspected of taking drugs. The advice we received from anti-doping and medical practitioners is to have it as an occupational health and safety practice in our policy, have random selections for drug testing.”

Drug testing provides an avenue against corruption and stops officers from getting into drug use. This has been an issue for some years now. A few years back police officers were put under investigation for meth use and some resigned before the conclusion of the investigation

Just last month a corrections officer at the Tanumalala prison was charged with possession of methamphetamine after he allegedly tried to give a ziplock bag containing meth to another colleague while on the job.

There have also been other reports of officers being investigated by the Professional Standard Unit for alleged involvement and using drugs. 

There have been fingers pointed at police officers for colluding with dealers and sellers. The last thing the public needs is police officers involved in the drug industry. This could lead to drug trade, especially meth to spread like an epidemic.

Many are not talking about it, but there have been talks of meth going missing from the evidence room. An officer under the influence of any drug, even alcohol fails to carry out his or her duty properly. Police officers are hard-working people and one rotten potato should not stink up the whole sack.

The police heads need to develop a policy to protect the well-being of all police employees, as well as the integrity, reputation and effectiveness of the police. It should seek to facilitate the health, safety and wellness of all police employees concerning drug and alcohol use by focusing on rehabilitation.

Wherever possible the police should prioritise a rehabilitative approach to manage staff with drug and alcohol difficulties.

Samoa does not have to look very far, the New Zealand Police has an existing policy that could be applied with a few tweaks.

Police officers deploy into operational environments where they are frequently exposed to multiple hazards and associated high risks, and any such incidents are often fast‐paced, and dynamic and require sound judgement to mitigate risks.

Those employed in roles that support frontline staff also perform functions that require sound judgement, again to mitigate risk to themselves, the safety of colleagues and the wider community.

It is therefore critical that any police officer who reports for duty under the influence of drugs or alcohol is identified and held accountable for their decision to be at work.

While developing the policy may be an easy task, getting funds for the exercise may not be that easy. Initial estimates are putting the cost at $100 each. The Commissioner said this would come from the police budget. Perhaps a necessary expense.

Moving forward as the policy is put in place, there should be a consideration from the government to increase the budgetary allocation for the police. We look forward to seeing this come to fruition.

And as we await the drug test, the police should also consider a regular fitness test.