An America Samoa senator and former police commissioner, Galeai Tu'ufuli, says he has no problem with arming police officers, but only under certain conditions like emergencies.
Police have received a shipment of 24 Glock-17 handguns with plans to begin training in mid-2014 for certain officers to be armed.
Galeai says arming police officers is nothing new and it occurred when he was police commissioner in the 1980s.
He says guns should be used only when the governor declares an emergency and only trained senior officers should be allowed to carry weapons in the course of their duties.
He says in the past the only officers who were allowed to be armed while on duty were senior officers, investigators and police officers.
Galeai recommends only senior officers with 15 years or more policing experience be selected to carry firearms.
