Show up or face court Police warns

Written by Mathew Lemisio
Wednesday, 06 February 2008
Police assistant commissioner, Papalii Li’o Masipau said yesterday that about 80%-90% of Police cases are being thrown out of court due to witnesses failing to turn up in court. 90% of Police cases dismissed, no witnesses Police are warning witnesses in any court case to show up or face prosecution. “There’s a law that empowers us (Police) to prosecute anyone who is a witness in a court case but fail to do so,” Police Assistant Commissioner and media liaison officer, Papalii Li’o Masipau told the media yesterday. The warning came after Police recorded between 80%-90% of their court cases being thrown out of court due to witnesses failing to turn up. “It’s a problem we have faced for a while now,” Papalii admitted. “But we are seriously looking into it and we are warning all the witnesses that we don’t come to court to give evidence then we will take legal action against you.” Police have often been criticized by many members of the public, especially complainants of withdrawn cases, of being slack and unprofessional in preparation of their court cases. Just recently, an MP in Parliament also raised the issue (Police slack) in handling Police files that are often gone missing before matters reach court. But Papalii, a qualified lawyer by profession, said Police are doing all they can do to achieve good for the wider community. He also strongly denied any Police files being lost. He said the issue of witnesses failing to turn up in court was a real concern that does not only affect the Police force but also the community as a whole. “If these people (witnesses) decided not to do their duty of giving evidence in court to assist the us and the court in solving a court matter, then there is a much bigger problem then just a Police case being withdrawn.” Papalii said accused persons of such cases are being let off the hook way too easily. “The possibilities of these people breaking the law again are very high,” he said. “That’s because they now know Police can’t do much to them given the fact that witnesses won’t bother turning up to testify against them.” Papalii said there were a number of cases where some members of the public deliberately hide witnesses to prevent them from appearing in court. “That won’t achieve anything,” he said. “It’s not helping anyone either because justice at the end will prevail.” The Police assistant commissioner pleads to all members of the public to show support towards their course. “One of our main targets in our Corporate Plan for the next three years is identifying ways to help minimize crimes in our society. “To us there is no better way then having the support of the public to help achieve what we have set out in our plans. “One thing for sure is that there is no point for us to have all these Corporate Plans if the public is not supporting us,” Papalii said. He urged members of the public if they are aware of any crime activities happening around the country do notify Police. “We do need your support to improve not our services to the wider community.” Comments (1) Subscribe to this comment's feed Complainants or Witnesses written by Samoan Fella, February 06, 2008 Threatening legal action against witnesses who do not turn up does not make sense and if building community relationships is a goal for Police then respect and understanding is due to the public. There may be various number of reasons why "witnesses" are not able to make it to court cases. There is obviously a big difference between a witness and a complainant and I don't see how witnesses can risk arrest when in actual fact they are not the complainants. If it were the complainants pulling out or not turning up then that's a totally different story. By saying that people are being let off the hook is implying guilt or knowledge of guilt? So does his mean that police are not able to table in court the summary of facts to get a conviction? Papalii said “One thing for sure is that there is no point for us to have all these Corporate Plans if the public is not supporting us,” Well it goes both ways on that statement really. If the public knew what the plans were and had input into "ways of minimizing crime" could be a start to developing a healthy relationship between the community and police? I wish the police all the best in their work! Soifua Samoan Fella Write comment Name Email Title Comment
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 06 February 2008 )

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