WHAT'S NEW
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established by law on January 5, 2009; composed of the following offices and information intelligence functions:
· Office of Vital Statistics (OVS)
· Territorial Emergency Management Coordinating Office (TEMCO)
· Territorial Office of Homeland Security (TOHS)
· Office of Territorial and International Criminal Itelligence and Drug Enforcement (OTICIDE)
· South Pacific Islands Criminal Intelligence Network (SPICIN)
· INTERPOL Pacific Sub-Bureau of the United States
Michael R. Sala is the first Director of the newly established Department of Homeland Security (DHS). With over 40 years of law enforcement and public safety experience in American Samoa and the US mainland; 20 of those years he served in American Samoa as Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety. His variety of assignments included patrol, traffic, training, crime prevention, vice and narcotics, intelligence, investigations, administration and senior management consultant. Sala served 15 years as Executive Director of the South Pacific Islands Criminal Intelligence Network (SPICIN), the intelligence arm of the South Pacific Chiefs of Police Conference (SPCPC) organization comprised of 21 countries in the Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand, until 2003 when SPICIN was reorganized as part of the regions’ information sharing and intelligence infrastructure administered by the American Samoa Government.
In September 1996, OTICIDE was separated from the Department of Public Safety, and created as an independent law enforcement agency (Task Force). As director of OTICIDE, Sala heads the INTERPOL Pacific Sub-Bureau comprised of American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), under the United States Department of Justice, National Central Bureau in Washington, D.C.
On February 6, 2007, Governor Togiola T. A. Tulafono, appointed Sala as Acting Director for the newly established DHS organized within the Executive Branch comprised of OVS, TEMCO, TOHS, OTICIDE, SPICIN and INTERPOL.
On Jan. 9, 2009, Governor Togiola T. A. Tulafono appointed Sala as director of ASDHS and his name was forwarded to the Fono on Jan. 13 for confirmation.
By January 28th 2009, Sala was confirmed by the Legislature (Senate and House of Representatives) as the Director of the American Samoa DHS.
Sala is a life member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and several other police organizations, and is a past Chairman of the SPCPC, 1994-1995. He was Chairman of the American Samoa Government (ASG) Interagency Special Task Force on Narcotics and White Collar Crime Enforcement for nine years, and also directed a Bureau of Special Investigations within the DPS. He has been Chairman of the Preparedness Task Force on Terrorism in American Samoa since September 27, 2001.
Established by Executive Order No. 008-2007, dated July 22, 2007, he was appointed as Chairman of Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC), comprised of 20 members from both the government and private sector.
He has been a presenter to various law enforcement regionally and internally, including the IACP, Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), South Pacific Chiefs of Police, SPICIN and INTERPOL.
Sala holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in law enforcement and criminal justice. He pursued post-graduate studies toward a Master’s degree in public administration and a doctorate degree in criminology. He is a graduate of the Honolulu Police, California Highway Patrol and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (Oregon, USA) Academies, and has received numerous leadership and management training throughout his career.
As a requirement, Sala has a secret clearance with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
One of Sala’s achievements was the ASG DPS being highlighted by the International Law and Order, and independent, magazine for police management. In April of 1988, ASG’s DPS was featured on the cover of this law and order police magazine. This recognition came as a result of positive changes in management and leadership within the DPS.
Sala was named as “One of the 25 people to watch as regional leaders” who are making a difference in the Pacific region in the 2007 May/June issue of Pacific Magazine.
He is an active lifetime member (Charter President) of the Lions Club since it was chartered in October 1982 and the Boy Scouts of America, American Samoa District Committee under the Aloha Council, Honolulu, Hawaii, in which he has served as chairman for the last 17 years. He was awarded the 2001 Silver Beaver Award, the highest recognition presented to an individual for noteworthy service of exceptional character to youth.
Sala holds a High Chief Title of “Tualamasala,” a registered Matai since 1973, in his village of Faga’itua under Paramount Chief Le’iato Family.