These decisions are inconsistent

Dear Editor,

I write in response to the letter calling for a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the allegations against the Police Commissioner. 

I agree totally with you Fa’amaoni. I am puzzled as to what behaviours trigger Commission of inquiries and what behaviours are deserving of feather duster treatment?

The previous police commissioner got shown the door not because he was personally responsible for what happened at Tafa’igata, but because he was the head of the police force. 

In the case of the Fugalei makeki raid, I understand from my reliable source at the makeki that the present commissioner personally approved the use of firearms in the raid. 

My question is, where do the lines of responsibilities end. The previous Minister for Police has been moved but the feather duster treatment handed out to the present commissioner does not absolve him of his responsibilities. 

The return of the Commissioner will again start divisions within the force, which has laid dormant while he was suspended. His approach of either his way or the highway does not engender any sense confidence that things will get better.

Again, according to my reliable source at the makeki, a number of senior police do not appreciate the way they are treated by “an outsider” who got parachuted into the top position. 

The Commissioner has surrounded himself with young ‘yes’ police who want to get to the top quickly but are not prepared to work hard to get there. They see the present Commissioner as a means to an end. 

Are these police less corrupt than the present crop of senior officers? Not according to the definitions I have seen in the previous letters to the editor about police corruption.

The PM was one of those people who was very critical of the way senior police handled the force but since becoming the Minister for Police his tune has changed. He has become satisfied with the police work to the point of being happy to defend the police against public allegations. 

What has changed between Minister Pinati and Stui? 

ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING. 

This is the biggest irony in this whole saga. The senior police officers are quite capable of performing their sworn police duties without being lectured to by some upstart from overseas (at least that is where he received his police training!)

For those critics of senior police officers, take a leaf out of Stui’s book. What is that biblical saying about kalikogu lava Koma iga ua kago.

Just remember this next time you criticise, the present group of senior police officers have ensured your safety and the safety of your friends and relatives for a long time and will continue to do so long after the present commissioner rides off into the sunset with his guns blazing. My friend at the makeki echoes those sentiments.

 

Vai Autu 

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