Department of Public Safety Commissioner William Haleck says the results of the two-session police academy entrance test that was offered last month are “very sad” while another DPS official described it as “disappointing”.

Last month, DPS advertised 20 slots for the next police academy — the first to be offered in three years — set to begin next month.

The response was overwhelming, with an estimated 400 people showing interest in becoming law enforcement officers. Close to 300 people showed up to take the test while more than 100 potential cadets either didn’t show up or are currently off-island for training with the local US Army Reserve Unit.

Haleck said he was looking forward to weeding out the ‘cream of the crop’ and he was expecting to get at least 40-50 people out of 300 to pass the test.

However, of the nearly 300 test takers, only seven (two percent) passed.

When asked to sum up his feelings, Haleck simply said, “it is very sad.” He said the test is a simple math and English test that includes ‘true or false’ questions and multiple choice answers.

“The test is pretty straightforward and after being notified of the results, I don’t know what to say,” Haleck said, adding that he doesn’t want to blame anyone or the local educational system, although he didn’t expect the results he got.

Unfortunately, those who didn’t pass the test will not be able to take the test again, until such time that it is deemed necessary, said Fuega Moliga, the Special Assistant to the DPS Commissioner.

According to Fuega, a second test date has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 22 for those who didn’t show up to take the test the first time around, including members of the local US Army Reserve Unit who signed up but are currently off island for training.

Haleck said they will be re-advertising for the second test date between the weeks of July 7 and July 14 and if the second group of test takers yield the same results as the first group, then they will have no choice but to start the recruiting process all over again.

The Police Commissioner said he believes that better candidates for the job are perhaps taking up opportunities elsewhere — with the military and other employment — where the pay is better than what DPS has to offer.

“People in our community have other options to explore and instead of taking our test, they are opting to take the better paying jobs and opportunities that can take them off island,” he said.

The Commssioner added that both he and Governor Lolo M. Moliga have been looking forward to getting the police academy off the ground because of the current shortage of manpower within the DPS. “but not being able to find qualified candidates will probably push the academy start date back from August to September.”

Of the seven people that passed the test, Haleck expects that only half of them will pass the entire hiring process which includes a physical examination, psychological evaluation, a background check, and an oral interview.

“The test is the first part of many involved in the hiring process so some of the people who passed the test may not pass the other requirements,” he said.

Samoa News understands that some people who failed the test made personal visits to the DPS central station yesterday requesting to look over their test, wondering why they didn’t pass.

“The thing is, we can’t lower the requirement,” Haleck explained. “The set score is 70% and above to qualify and most of the testers were bubbling between 40% and 60%.”

Haleck said the tests were numbered to coincide with a person’s name, to protect the identities of the test takers. He said he wouldn’t be able to name the seven people who passed but he did say that the highest score was 76%.

“We want to do this the right way, by hiring good, qualified people,” the DPS Commissioner explained. “It has been a practice within the American Samoa Government to hire people because of family relations but the Governor wants to do this the right way, using a merit system so we can hire the best candidates we can find.”

Fuega said Monday that following the entrance exam, the entire process will take another month and a half before the names of those who will be taking part in the police academy will be announced.