Australian Federal Police have handed over two new vehicles to Samoa Police to assist them with the delivery of their services.
The vehicles include a 16-seater Hi-ace van for the training unit and a four-wheel drive van for the Armoury.
Police Commissioner Egon Keil was pleased to receive the assistance describing it as a convenience to the many efforts in place by the Ministry of Police.
"The van will make travelling for our training team much easier and affordable," Commissioner Keil said.
"For the first time they will be able to travel as a team to their duties whether in Savaii or in a rural village here in Upolu. It doesn’t only make travelling easy but help improve team morale," he added.
The armoury team, which is responsible for the confiscation, registration and storing of firearms has been busy for the last couple of months.
The team confiscated 322 guns, both legal and illegal in Samoa during a gun amnesty last December, a feat the commissioner called a success.
The last gun amnesty that was held before Commissioner Keil’s team went out, lasted an entire year, but only gathered a little more than a hundred guns.
However, there are still some challenges faced by the arms unit despite their recent success.
"The 4×4 Ford Ranger, will make traversing to the outback side of the country much easier when the arms unit are on missions to gather weapons," said Commissioner Keil.
"Before, citizens had to bring in their rifles and firearms their way, and it was time consuming and hard. But with this vehicle, our arms unit will have the ability to go any distance anywhere to complete the task at hand," he added.
The two vehicles are only a part of the continuous support by AFP. They also funded and provided bikes and police technical equipment earlier in the year, to help with the police traffic sector.