The full story
No continuous crime series covers all three governments; the Statistical Abstract 2025 gives government spending on police and prisons but no yearly table of offences 5. Under HRPP, police investigated 12 drug cases in 2016 and 138 in 2017, and 48 property cases in 2016 and 234 in 2017, while homicides fell 14. In June 2025 police data showed 26% fewer crimes in early 2025 than in the same period of 2024, but the Police Commissioner warned of an escalating drug problem 1. Customs intercepted 1,835 g of methamphetamine on 4 September 2025, before Laʻauli took office 10. Under Laʻauli, 20 raids between 29 January and 26 May 2026 seized 100.98 g of methamphetamine and 55 people were charged 13. Seizures measure enforcement, not the size of the drug market. The Police, Justice and Family ministries held the first meeting of a drugs-and-violence taskforce, PACT Samoa, on 17 August 2026 and agreed to develop a phased prevention programme; no result is measured yet 4.
Police resourcing: HRPP's 2016 manifesto promised a police academy and the move of Tafaʻigata prison to Tanumalala 9; the China-funded academy agreement was signed in September 2018, construction began in April 2020, and Fiamē opened the SAT$33 million academy at Tafaʻigata on 19 August 2024 3. The academy was certified as a training provider in January 2025 and runs a 19-week recruit course; it does not publish yearly graduate or departure numbers 15. Official spending on police services was SAT$16.9 million in 2021, SAT$22.4 million in 2024 and SAT$19.7 million in 2025 5. Fiamē's government planned to separate the prison service from the police; its caretaker minister said on 1 July 2025 that the plan was on hold after the budget failed, and no separation has been reported since 6. Cabinet ended the Police Commissioner's service in October 2025 and installed an acting commissioner, covered under independent institutions 16.
Prisons: the Ombudsman's November 2015 inspection of Tafaʻigata found 25 to 30 prisoners per cell, broken toilets and showers, no proper security fence, and about 10 officers on duty for 495 prisoners 17. Tanumalala opened in 2019; two maximum-security prisoners escaped that October and Cabinet suspended the prisons commissioner 18. In 2021/22 the Ombudsman received 41 prisoner complaints, mostly about food and officers' conduct, and its April 2022 COVID-19 assessment of Tanumalala raised overcrowding 1920. Lauititi Tualima escaped from Tanumalala in late January 2025 and was caught on 17 March; five correction officers were suspended while police investigated whether they helped him 21. A 28 January 2026 Observer editorial reported more than 100 people in a remand area built for 60 2. No national prison-population series is published.
Courts: HRPP's 2020 laws removed the Supreme Court as an avenue of appeal for Land and Titles cases, and by May 2025 about 100 appeals filed since 2021 could not be heard because the appeal court could not be constituted 2212. Fiamē's 2025 constitutional amendment created First, High and Appeal courts for customary matters 1112. The Land and Titles Court of Appeal delivered its first decision in late September 2026; no clearance figure for the backlog, or for criminal and civil cases generally, is published 23. The 2026/27 budget sets SAT$600,000 for legal aid and SAT$4 million for the first phase of a Savaiʻi courthouse and judges' residence 24. Samoa adopted its first National Legal Aid Policy in 2025 and a July 2026 UNDP account describes implementation beginning, without saying how many people were helped 25.
Corruption cases: Samoa's National Anti-Corruption Policy 2024/25 to 2028/29 records that no politician or political leader had been investigated or prosecuted for corruption when it was written and proposes a national agency 7. Fiamē's government commissioned a forensic audit of HRPP-era projects; in January 2026 Laʻauli's Cabinet referred it to the Attorney-General and police, and in February the Revenue Minister said the 13 projects reviewed had missing receipts and records and the auditors had formed no opinion 826. No charges, convictions or recovered money are reported.