The Samoa Police, Prisons and Corrections Services (SPPCS) has acquired a powerful tool in the fight
against crime and disaster response through the Samoa Australia Police Partnership (SAPP) with the
handover of an Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and Fingerprint Comparison
Software (FCS) package.
The installation of the AFIS and FCS packages took place last week and marks another step forward
for the ongoing Forensics Renewal Project, a partnership between the Australia Federal Police (AFP)
and the Samoa Police to rebuild and upgrade the organisations’ forensic capabilities.
The AFIS system, which is capable of storing up to 50,000 records, allows investigators to efficiently
search and compare fingerprints from a database, aiding in the identification of known or unknown
suspects.
Head of Forensics, Superintendent Tagaloa Tipasa Matamu expressed his enthusiasm regarding the
handover of the AFIS and FCS packages saying it will greatly enhance the organizations fingerprint
storage and comparison capabilities.
“We are pleased to mark another milestone for the Forensics Renewal Project” said Supt. Tagaloa.
“The handover of these advanced technologies will greatly enhance our organizations fingerprint
storage and comparison capabilities by streamlining the means of accessing, comparing and
enhancing ink prints and latent prints stored within the AFIS. “
The new upgrades to the Forensic services is a critical step forward in the Samoa Police’s efforts to
rebuild and upgrade forensic capabilities with Police Commissioner Auapa’au Logoitino Filipo saying
he was pleased with the progress made so far in the Forensics Renewal Project in partnership with
the AFP through SAPP.
“The acquisition of the AFIS and FCS packages through the Samoa Australia Police Partnership is a
significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to enhance our forensic capabilities” said Auapa’au.
“This powerful tool will undoubtedly help us in the fight against crime and improve our disaster response.
“We are grateful for our partnership with the Australia Federal Police in the Forensics Renewal
Project and are confident that this development will have a positive impact on our forensic
investigations.”
The package comes with software licensing, backup, and support for three years. The Forensics Unit
will also receive two computers with ultra-high resolution monitors, a high resolution digital scanner
and an ultra-high definition document camera.
In addition, Australian fingerprint expert John Moloney, was on-site to conduct the installation and
provide training to Samoa Police Forensic members.
The training will equip the Forensic Unit with the necessary skills to select and scan usable hardcopy fingerprint forms, produce jpeg image files, download historical and usable stored fingerprint records, convert them to searchable files in the database, and provide impression enhancement for digital capture and presentation for court proceedings and digital database management.
The total cost of the AFIS and FCS package is valued at $65,000AUD and AFP Senior Officer,
Detective Superintendent Daniel Evans said the acquisition of the AFIS system and the FCS package
is a significant boost into the Samoa Police ability to solve crimes and respond to disasters.
“As partners in law enforcement, the Australian Federal Police is proud to support the Samoa Police
with the handover of cutting-edge finger print storage and identification technologies” said D/Supt
Evans. “We remain committed to building the capacity and capabilities of the Forensic Unit which
will enable the Samoa Police to enhance their capacity to solve crimes and respond to disasters,
ultimately making Samoa a safer place for its citizens.
The AFP also supports Forensic Capability Development across the Pacific and supports the work of
Pacific Forensic Working Group (PFWG). The PFWG is chaired by Supt. Tagaloa and will meet in
Canberra in April this year. Through the AFP regional program Samoa Police members have recently
attended Pacific Fire Investigation Training, Digital Forensics Training and are using the new online
learning platform (Moodle) which has been introduced by the Pacific Forensic Working Group
(PFWG) and replicates AFP online training for forensics.
