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Polynesian Community Responds to Police Shooting ReportNeighbors still demanding answersRelated Content
ANCHORAGE - Members of the Mountain View and Polynesian communities spoke out about the state prosecutors' findings that Anchorage Police Officer Boaz Gionson was justified in shooting and killing Shane Tasi. They’re upset, angry, and sad because it's a situation they say could have been prevented – which is why they still have a lot of questions that need to be answered. It’s been nearly three weeks since 26-year-old Anchorage police officer Boaz Gionson shot 26-year-old Shane Tasi outside his Mountain View home. Police say the entire confrontation lasted no more than six seconds. They've released an edited version of what happened based on surveillance footage. But some members of the Polynesian community say that's not enough. They want a full explanation of why Tasi had to be killed instead of just taken down. “I'm pissed that all this happened; if there were three shots why couldn't one disable him?” asked Aitogi Tauanu’u, who is a friend of the Tasi family. “I'm mad because the people that we trust is the police department, but we can not trust them no more, who can we trust now.” “A lot of them are very sad and a lot of them are saying that this is not right,” said Lucy Hansen, who is president of the Polynesian Association of Alaska. “It looks like the law enforcement against our minority communities and it’s not because the police officer was Polynesian, the victim was Polynesian,” said community advocate Ma’o Tosi. Some members of the Polynesian Association of Alaska say there are misconceptions about them as a group that may be contributing to the tension between their community and police. “We're stereotyped as group, and we are labeled Samoans – beware of them because they are big and strong and they might whoop you,” said Kaneyo Hirata, who is the PR director for the Polynesians Association of Alaska. “We're very loving and we're very genuine; when you have a Samoan friend, you have a Samoan friend forever.” The group says police officers need to account for the diversity in neighborhoods. “They need to understand different cultures that we have in Anchorage, a lot of cultures are different the way you can approach somebody,” said Hansen. All sides agree it begins with better communication. “The Polynesian community is very interested in better dialogue with the Anchorage Police Department, and we are certainly interested in a better dialogue with them,” said APD chief Mark Mew. “That's the way we communicate, we have discussions,” said Hirata. “Fofo means massage, we try to massage that problem so we can some resolution.” There are multiple remedies that community leaders say should involve finding common ground to bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement. “Whether you’re a police officer or someone from the Mountain View area, I’m certain that's there a movie that you might like together,” said Tosi. “I'm sure there's a sport that we might have interest in together.” “It takes some time to rebuild those relationships and it’s not something that we work on hard enough all the time,” said APD spokesman Lieutenant Dave Parker. “We are trying to do better in that.” A community is now divided against the police. “They are supposed to serve and protect,” said Tauanu’u. “Who are they serving and protecting, themselves or the people?” The question now is how can that divide be bridged. “It took a death of a man, a young man who had children for us to congregate and try to find solutions,” said Hirata. “The police have to do the job of the police, there's no way around it, but we are going to be more effective in our society if we can do that with the encouragement and assistance of all our community,” said Parker. But who will take the first step toward healing? As part of that healing, members of the Polynesian community say there needs to be action like having town hall meetings to discuss situations in neighborhoods. They also say instead of officers coming to the neighborhood only during bad times, they'd like to see police attending community events and cultural celebrations. |
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S8-10 said on Friday, Jun 29 at 8:39 AM
maybe you should listen to the police officer who's pointing a gun at you.
9494700130 years living in Mountain View said on Friday, Jun 29 at 10:59 AM
A Polynesian Police Officer raised in Mountain View was threatened at close range by a Mountain View Polynesian. The Officer could not let the agressor gain access to his gun or many more people would be in danger. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Family, however Mr. Tasi is soley responsible.
94960736john said on Friday, Jun 29 at 12:09 PM
Wonder how they do it in England where the police are unarmed
94967556GeorgeC said on Friday, Jun 29 at 12:12 PM
Where were all these righteous people when this was going on? Why didn't some of them come out and subdue or calm down Tasi? No they just stood or sat around while he was on a tear. Some idiot goes at a cop with a raised "stick", threatening bodily harm. It's his own fault. I put no blame on the officer, and all of it on Tasi and now his community for standing up for his idiotic actions. They aren't teaching their children anything reasonable. Just stop and put the weapon down. Jeeeez, how hard is that to understand?
94967806bobbing for apples said on Friday, Jun 29 at 12:24 PM
Maybe if you would RAISE your children with some kind of moral values, instead of your lazy-I-don't-care-drinking-losser values, then maybe this would never have happened in the first place.
94968891Raven33 said on Friday, Jun 29 at 1:33 PM
My only concern is the police think the value of a gun being $450 is more important than not having to use deadly force over $850 difference in price of a taser. To add insult to injury, then they try justifying it by saying tasers are unreliable. Odd how you never hear about that on the news. Police officer injured when taser fails. Nope, I haven't seen one report of that happening.
94974756Anonymous said on Friday, Jun 29 at 3:09 PM
Personal responsibility. You are approached by a police officer pointing a gun at you. You charge at him with any type of weapon in your hand. What else are you going to expect. Personal responsibility, self control. Courtesy to others expecially your neighbors.
94981316Be At Peace.... said on Friday, Jun 29 at 3:12 PM
I am Samoan and I Love our culture which makes this tragic loss of one of our brothers hard because the situation is not as one sided as it seems. For the comment, “It took a death of a man with children to congregate and try to find solutions.” I have children so I do not to put myself in a situation that might take me away from them. “They need to understand different cultures that we have in Anchorage, a lot of cultures are different the way you can approach somebody.” True, but we should know the laws of this land already as well. Shane was drunk so his judgment was impaired, and because it was he would have attacked the officer. They say it was a situation that could have been prevented. By family and friends? Definitely! Yet, were they there? No! All I know is this, had he not been drunk or had his wife called a friend or a family member for help instead of driving off and leaving him at the park in that state, maybe what unfolded afterwards would not have happened at all.
94981505alaskanbiker said on Friday, Jun 29 at 4:19 PM
30 years ago i was in same situation, i was first to arrive grab my Pr24 {baton}a great defense weapon also had mace real mace. backup arrive talk to him and he refuse to comply 1 deputy use mace we moved in got him down and cuff him and off to jail he went.APD i dont see them carrying batons to much.when they do its old school straight stick baton.mace we used back in the 70s was Smith & Wesson cs.
94985212alaskanbiker said on Friday, Jun 29 at 4:39 PM
A police officer not equipped with a baton may be forced to choose between two extremes in responding to criminal assault: bare hands or firearms. Thus, the baton fills an intermediate role in the weapons available to peace officers, and gives flexibility to defend against physical attack proportionately.
94986356guest said on Saturday, Jun 30 at 2:18 PM
Funny how all the racial claims stopped when everyone saw the officer... Most people dont put themselves in the situation that an officer is pointing a gun at them... I blame Tasi, he was aggressive told to stop and decided he was tougher than the police...
95046715Mike J said on Saturday, Jun 30 at 2:56 PM
And then there are those of us that are tired of those drunk and/or on drugs, becoming overly violent and possibly threatening others. Wonder where all of these 'concerned' individuals would be if things had taken a turn with more people injured and more damage done? Wonder where all these 'concerned' individuals were when Mr Tasi was displaying problem behavior in the past?
95048331Samoan&Sole Believer AAA said on Saturday, Jun 30 at 6:30 PM
You know yes I believe actions could of been rethought out and that precautions were also taken into consideration to the community as well.Put yourself in the officers feet and rethink before you speak!Be responsible for actions taken place already="We Want Justice"Justice can only be defined by the actions that were sought out that night!Alcohol can influence possibly drugs too can most definitely encourage one's state of mind.Boaz had to protect and serve police aren't the problem is people&traditions culture being mixed up to not only influence special treatment like we=Polynesians,are not bad people pshh there are no bad people okay just bad choices and is those choices that we make that can define us or defile us in any predicament.Saddens my heart to see how "samoans"are handling this case out in the community like who are we to trust now?Samoan community brought up in God yet we have the biggest drug/alcohol problem next to natives you want justice now still?
95059545Anch_scanner said on Saturday, Jun 30 at 7:14 PM
If the community would step outside their culture, and into the culture of a armed police officer being threatened by an agitated person who has assaulted others, they would see who is ultimately to blame for this. The loss of life is VERY regrettable, but he forced the situation. caused the situation and forced the outcome on the p
95061986pawtalker said on Sunday, Jul 1 at 2:15 PM
A bad choice was made here.Had he complied to the order to drop his weapon things would have been different.I have been observing a Large family of Polynesians that live across the street from me.They are packed into this apt. building like rats.I plan to call the fire Marshall to find out how legal this is. They are trashing the property and street.I picked up the last of their McDonalds garbage and decided to confront them.They relunctantly picked it up. But it is still happening. They "party" most all night, keeping most of us awake that need to get to work the next day.Good neighbors? Nope..I'm tired of trying to welcome different cultures into my neighborhood only to have them trash my property and keep me awake.You want to get along with me? You can do that by being a responsible human being.Take care of your kids,your property, dispose of your garbage correctly, keep your party quiet after 10pm.
95119402Curious... said on Monday, Jul 2 at 12:16 AM
I looked over the report, watched the video, I saw in the police dispatch records that the caller saw blood all over the place & later in another porion says wife was in the restroom bathing the children. Why did she make him walk home & Why where large items flipped over,Did she and was she screenedfor injuries?Why is there not more in this area
95147375maumavae said on Tuesday, Jul 3 at 3:29 AM
ATTENTION: All residents of Anchorage, Alaska. Please come out and support the Polynesian Community rally held this Saturday, July 7th, 2012. This rally is in response to the unjust treatment of many of our Polynesian brothers like Shane Tasi and other minorities by law enforcement due to their "intimidating" presence and racial profiling. We are demanding that better police protocols be implemented immediately on shooting to disarm versus shooting to kill. The Polynesian Community will not remain silent on this issue. Instead, we will stand together as ONE people, ONE voice, ONE cause! PLEASE CHECK OUT FACEBOOK.COM/POLYNESIANCOMMUNITYCENTER FOR MY INFO, HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!!
95345936loony lu said on Friday, Jul 6 at 10:06 AM
There is alot of things that were brought to Alaska. People have come with their different lifestyle and expect the state to change because they are here. What I've said is that if they want a change they have to commit their ways and adopt the ALASKANS WAYS. Yes if that were done they would be showing respect for this land and its people we dont have to change for their ways.This many years of being told that we are doing wrong is not very acceptable because we never established anyones laws. I wish Alaska was the way it used to be UNINHABITED BY FOREIGNERS iM NOT QUITE LOONY BUT WITH WHAT THAT I SEE NOW I FEEL QUITE SO.ITS THE DISEASE THAT WE GET FROM WHAT THAT WE DID
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