Police warns public to be wary of speculating reports

Ministry of Police have notified the public to be wary of the information they receive whether through media or from other sources.

Police Spokesperson Su’a Le Mamea Tiumalu says any information that comes out of the Ministry of Police from a source other than himself or the acting Commissioner at the time, is to be labeled untrue or unofficial.

“The only information that is confirmed will come from the media spokesperson, or the acting commissioner of police, because some information that may come from a leakage cannot represent the situation entirely but instead a point of view,” he said.

This comes after three anonymous letters ending up on Media editor’s desks, and the police being under public scrutiny and criticism.

“We have to avoid giving out information that isn’t completely true or is biased in some cases. So to make sure what we give out is complete and comes from the proper officials,” said Su’a.

“What worries us is that it may either diminish the reliability of the Samoan Media, where people may question their transparency and accountability, but could also hurt the reputation of the Ministry of Police, where the country may start to think that we don’t have things under control,” he said.

This though, applies only to matters that are under investigations, most likely the unfolding case within the Ministry of Police.

In order to avoid getting incorrect information, he says if any statement is published or passed around by word of mouth, which does not originate from the acting commissioner or the media spokesperson, is unreliable.

Author: 
Joshua Lafoai