Abuse shouldnt be tolerated in any culture. Police brutality is abuse of power. I dont care what country you live in. No one, men, women or children should ever be abused. If those women were found to have been abused physically or even degraded because of their gender, those officers should be reprimanded. Police officers should be held accountable, nobody is above the law. Its hard to say the police should be more tolerant or lenient because they were women. There are some really vicious women out there and some of them do need to be subdued for their own safety as well as the officers safety. Police should be able to distinguish between a calm situation and a violent one. I know that I give respect to law enforcement because there are some crazy crackpots that when given a gun and a badge they become a surpreme being ...lol. I guess we'll find out what happened when they go to court.

No one is above the law..not the police and not even the NZ based lawyers. The laywers (Mrs Fuiamaono who prefers to be called Ms Sapolu and Mrs Woodroffe) being intelligent professionals should have known better before they respectively interfered with police work and threw abuse at Justice Department staff , if that was what really happened at each incident. Police at the same time should have known much better that they were dealing with lawyers who knows the law inside out and should have acted much more professionally than they did, again if that was what really happened. Both sides can say whatever they wish to the media but the truth of the matter is...both sides acted unprofessionally and totally out of boundaries of true faaSamoa ...ua matua leai lava se faaaloalo.

Pio, will you please make up your mind, just last week you were singing China's praises, this week you're badmouthing our rich neighboring benefactors which includes China. This week is scientology against christianity yet when you were singing China's praises you never mentioned the fact that China is a Communist Country that doesn't believe in God and Samoa being the 100% Christian country that they are suppose to be should be weary of being too friendly with them as their policy of eliminating christianity by any means possible is normal government policy. I use to enjoy reading your editorials but lately they have been quite confusing to say the least. As a responsible editor you need to be more specific - get off the fence - you can't have it both ways as sooner or later they'll start pulling you from both sides and you know what will eventually happen - your brown butt will be split in half.

Authors Note :

Hey stop that - you trying to make my poor exposed brown butt look bad?
China is a benefactor, yes, but not a neighbouring one in terms of geographical proximity.
Australia and NZ are.
Australia is largely behind the training of our police officers, so the use of the term 'neighboring benefactor' was to keep it deliberately vague so it will stimulate your lazy brain.
As for Christianity and China, I think we've already crossed that bridge so many times I wouldn't be surprised if it hasn't collapsed already - the bridge.
Feel free though to ponder this interesting observation! Both words start off with the same two letters..Ch -ristanity and Ch-ina. There is another word that starts with Ch...Choke.
I think we've already choked on this God and China issue. Let it R.I.P

Watch your butt...by the way is it brown? Samoan or American?

Wow pretty hard to determine who is telling the truth, both sides are trying to abuse power.

Hey Pio, i'm glad you finally mentioned the alleged guns smuggling by the police commissioner. I made a reference about this last week, but my comments were not posted. I guess i was too harsh on our police commissioner. I haven't heard anything about the latest alleged offense. The last information i read on samoaobserver was that the AG office was investigating the case. It's been about six months now and so far nothing has happened. In most country, when a police officer or in this case is the police commissioner is alleged of criminal activity, he is subject for termination or suspension until the outcome of the investigation. Thank you Pio for bringing this to light!

Although both parties are brown, they are in fact two different cultures. The laws of their different countries are not the same either. On the same line, human rights may be universal, but each country precedes its political power over them. So when people who are visitors into Samoa intend to challenge law and culture, they must and should do it according to the laws and politics of Samoa. Their legal status in their own nation of citizenship or permanent residence is not important, and neither is their profession. It is cultural respect as the writer was saying that they were perhaps seen as Samoans, but considering what they do to Samoa should be given the full treatment of tradition. I’m not sure about cooking a brown butt, but Fiji is clear about its foreign relationship with external media and professional counsellors.

hey pio, too late for damage control, the cat is out of the bag - australia, nz, china are all in the same boat, they influence the politics and everything else that goes on in this place. you might not have mentioned china but you were thinking it - how do I know this? cause you are one of the smartest people here if not the smartest and nothing much passes you by. Australia might have trained the police force but the disregard for human rights especially women is typical communist - typical Chinese. China might not have actually trained our policemen but the influence is there from all those visits that the prime minister, parliament and the judiciary have been taking to mainland China. Money gets your foot in the door, a lot of money makes you bed partners. Kuilaepa is already acting like Mao-Tse-Tung, it's only normal communist practice that the police force is trained to be executioners of anyone who thinks ill of the government let alone speak it. By the way you should tread more careful yourself as next to the police force, the next one they will control is the media, can't have those citizens influenced by any free thinking intellects and that's you my friend. Be afraid, be very afraid. To answer your question, my butt is all brown, more brown than yours, after all you're the one with the not so brown skin and brown hair, so it's only fair to assume that your butt is lighter not brown but that's okay you are still da man. I'll take everything back I've said about China if they build you a new building for the Newsline. How's that for deep pocket politics or is it deep throat polictics.


Author's note :

AHHH.... TOO MUCH INFORMATION DEAR. AT LEAST I KNOW NOW THE WHO'S, WHY'S AND WHERE'S YOU'RE COMING FROM.
AS ONE OF MY BLACK BUTT BUDDIES USED TO SAY...'I FEEL YOU.'
Appreciate the advice. But sometimes you have to rein in the imagination...them things have a strange habit of landing your butt in a cooking pot if you're not careful..heh, heh, heh.

I enjoyed the flattery/compliment but the credit is misplaced. Fai mai Pekelo..'ku'u a'u i lalo'.

You're the one with the brain....and the butt to go with it..ummmmm... on second thoughts maybe you have to let me check that out first - the butt.

Until then I'll just ....well...Butt Off.

Pio I love you to the moon and back

Thanks for mentioning the Police Commissioner and his little mishap. What about the incident with the officers and the two ladies. Sure you can't talk about the whole case due to investigation but there are other things you can brief the public on besides what you said. You started in the middle of the incident and I'm wondering how we got there.

Please if no one else, I would like to know.

I know when I commented on law enforcement in the past I sounded a little harsh. Must be the reason why that never posted. Please know that the best people I've ever come to know are law enforcement officers. They have a tough job to do and the abuse they take from the public sometimes really test the real person inside the uniform. But It also bothers me to see anyone in this profession abuse the title of a police officer. Out of the few places I've been, Samoa officers is in need of more training, especially on ethics and respect for the public. Some of my relatives are officers there and they are very good people but as soon as the uniform goes on, man...you will find different people in their demeanor. The way they speak to people blows my mind, very unprofessional. They should be at all time if possible be in more cotrol themselves. They can not control a situation if they themselves are out of control. Why, is it the culture or lack of training, may be both. I trully believe that more training would be good. Every officers need more training because laws changes more often than we know. Years ago we didn't have this many automobile now there's more than we ever imagined. People also change as the year comes and go. We are living in a modern world with new technology, even Samoa, so officers need to adapt and be more prepare. The ladies in this case, yes, they come from a whole differnt world into another even if they're Samoan.

Samoa recently began to hammer domestic violence harder than ever. That's something that's going to stir the pot a little and new laws will need be implemented.

"No one is above the law". Mentioned here by others and you're all correct. I would like to know more on officers training though if anyone is up to it. Australia might be training Samoa officers according to what I heard but does Samoa further train officers themselves on their own culture or do they automatically assume the officers should already know?

I realized that modern laws and the Samoan culture have sometimes colided. Officers will need to know whether to enforce laws based on the law not the culture. Ofcourse, the culture will have to be taken into consideration.

Enjoyed the article Mr. Sioa......I know you still love us here in the US no matter how much crap we give you.

Thank you.......The explanation for the officers and the two ladies is in the article below........my apology

I enjoyed your clever retort to Pio. I’m still laughing and also mindful of the stimulating debates that deserve credit where credit is due.

Kudos

On the one side of the coin, Pio defends the police as those who are checked and restrained, sometimes justified by cultural and traditional protocols (as in the implied “feagaiga”, “faaaloalo” and “ava fatafata”) first and foremost, and as weapons for their first line of defense/control. Second being the law. The other side of the coin, he petitions the public to be vigilant and to appeal to their MP’s, investigate, indict, and hopefully convict these law enforcement officers for overreacting.

Pio’s suggested “hide or run” (cf. fight or flight) strategy in the case of police brutality and overreaction, has some loopholes. I am critical of the “hide” (“bury our heads”) suggestion as being too passive and terror-stricken which are typical of authoritarian and dictatorial regimes. (Incidently, some critics have alluded to the present HRPP government as being a budding prototype of such regimes, as well as the abuse and human rights violations by the police as indicative of the Chinese system.) By the way, vigilance and passivity do not go together. The questions are, what happened to the rights of the citizens under the law? So where are the advocates and defendants of those rights - the judicial system, including the police, ironically? Not too long ago, some police officers had also been involved in improper conduct and sexual advances and/or harassment during a party, I believe. The government should appoint a commission to investigate these incidents.

The people should not depend so much on the culture as their shield and haven, since the culture can be a two-edged sword. - it saves, but also kills - figuratively and literally. Barring corruptive practices, the people’s better hope is in the court system. Corruption is, perhaps a more visible thorn on the culture’s side than on the face of the modern justice system. Corruption in the traditional system is more prevalent yet obscured by its ability to blend and adapt to the cultural background and because of the close knit nature of Samoan society. Favors are therefore exchanged freely in the name and guises of familial ties (aiga) and love (alofa), notable pillars of the Samoan social system.

And what’s up with the Keil’s butt reference? Is he trying to prolong the fight with his American readership? He should be careful because his perceived strengths can also sometimes reveal his hidden flaws. Though I would have liked to interpret the reference as a euphemism for the American system, honestly, in the context of the article, it is more offensive to Keil than to America; the latter being the target of his ongoing grudges.

Also, does the following indictment of Samoa’s richer benefactors include China? or only China?
“...strict security measures demanded on our political leaders by those who are interested only in selfishly protecting their own exposed butts”

He has a good chance of souring Sino-Samoan relations. He would not want to be a sacrificial animal augured to reveal the condition of the exposed butts.

On China still, I think PASS and opponents of the RHD law, should try and use China as their pawn. In China, people drive on the right side of the road (vs. the left per the new law in Samoa), and the two have just signed a few weeks ago some goodwill documents which include, among other things, the promotion of tourism in Samoa. So China should tell Tui and the gang to switch back, otherwise it’s extremely risky for the Chinese tourists to visit Samoa due to the driving laws.

And what’’s up with the Keil’’s butt reference? Is Pio trying to prolong the fight with his American readership? He should be careful because his perceived strengths can also sometimes reveal his hidden flaws. Though I would have liked to interpret the reference as a euphemism for the American system, honestly, in the context of the article, it is more offensive to Keil than to America; the latter being the target of his ongoing grudges.

Also, does the following indictment of Samoa’’s richer benefactors include China? or only China?
““...strict security measures demanded on our political leaders by those who are interested only in selfishly protecting their own exposed butts””

Pio has a good chance of souring Sino-Samoan relations. He would not want to be a sacrificial animal augured to reveal the condition of the exposed butts.