Commissioner suggests an independent TCF

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Manu’a Representative Vesi Fautanu Jr. fully supports an idea suggested by Commissioner of Public Safety, Le’i Sonny Thompson, for the Territorial Correctional Facility to be a stand alone independent agency of the government, separate from the Department of Public Safety.

The suggestion was made at a hearing of the House Public Safety Committee last week.

Vesi, who attended the hearing, quoted the commissioner saying that the under-staffing problem at DPS is worsening and even if the class of about 50 in the current police academy graduates, DPS will still have a deficit of police officers.

One of the issues that the hearing delved into was the continuous inmate escapes from the TCF.

Vesi said he believes the commissioner’s statements that the TCF suffers from lack of manpower and adequate resources.

He said Commissioner Le’i suggested that one way to get the resources that TCF needs is to make it an independent agency, which would qualify it for federal funding.

Vesi said the idea was supported by the majority of committee members at the hearing.

He said Le’i had suggested that the House initiate legislation to bring about the change.

But Rep. Vesi feels the administration should initiate the change but a feasibility study should be carried out first before the idea gets to the legislative action stage.

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