“It’s due to his expertise in the Vice and Narcotics field that we’ve had to reach out to him (Detective Ioane “Johnny” Paselio) to be the lead investigator in a recent drug case,” was the explanation given by Commissioner of Public Safety, William Bill Haleck regarding Paselio, who is the officer allegedly involved in the assault and property damage incident that occurred recently at a night club in Pago Pago.

Last week when the incident occurred, Haleck said Paselio and Geoffrey Tagaloa would be on desk duty, however when a more recent drug case came to light, the case was assigned to Paselio. This is a move that other police officers are not happy about as they believe there are other detectives who can do the job.

The Commissioner told Samoa News yesterday that Paselio has experience with drug cases as he’s been working with Vice and Narcotics for a very long time. Haleck explained that Captain Peau Paulo Leuma, who previously headed the Vice and Narcotics Division has been transferred to the Leone Substation where he’s the Commanding Officer there and “therefore Paselio was the only Detective to work on this case, given his expertise.”

He said another issue is the lack of manpower with the Vice and Narcotics Division, however “now that Vice and Narc is under the umbrella of the CID, there will be more police officers involved in the vice and narc field.”

Asked if it was his call to appoint Paselio as the lead investigator, Haleck responded “ I support the move to assign Paselio as the lead investigator.”

The Commissioner also confirmed that the criminal investigation regarding the night club incident is completed and the report has been forwarded to the Attorney General’s office for their review and disposition. “The matter is now with the AG’s office, it’s in their hands,” said Haleck.

Samoa News also asked if an internal investigation was launched against the Watch Commander who made the call not to arrest Paselio and Tagaloa on allegations of Public Peace Disturbance and Property Damage. The Commissioner said there is no internal investigation against the Watch Commander, because he made his judgment call and did not make the arrest, however Haleck acknowledged the Watch Commander should’ve reached out to higher ranking officers like the Chief of Police for a final decision, especially in cases involving police officers.

Members of the public have cried out that favoritism was played when the off duty detectives were not arrested following the incident.

Samoa News asked the Commissioner if he agreed with the Watch Commander’s decision not to arrest Paselio and Tagaloa, but he declined to comment. However, Haleck said “only he (the watch commander) can justify the decision he made, the consequences fall on him. He should have asked a higher rank, especially in cases where police officers are behaving like this, because I don’t condone this kind of behavior. We are supposed to be upholding the law, not breaking it,” said Haleck.

Samoa News understands the criminal report on this matter is now with the AG’s office, however it is unclear if Attorney General Talauega Eleasalo Ale or Deputy Attorney General Mitzie Jessop have made a decision as to what action will be taken.