When Sean Ahshapanek moved to Juneau in 2011 from Mississippi, his girlfriend told him he’d be a good fit for the police force — it only took him five years to take her advice.
“‘I told you to do that from the very start when you first moved here,’” Ahshapanek (aw-SHOP-uh-neck) said, recounting his girlfriend’s reaction to his decision in January to apply for a job with the Juneau Police Department. “It’s a milestone in my life.”
For JPD, Ahshapanek’s hire is also a milestone. The department is getting closer to achieving the diversity Police Chief Bryce Johnson has previously stated he would like to see in the department. Ahshapanek, 29, is a tribal citizen of the Mississippi band of Choctaw Indians and the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma. Counting Ahshapanek, the force is now 8 percent Alaska Native or American Indian, compared to the citywide percentage of 11.9 percent.
Earlier in the week — during a Coffee with a Cop session hosted by the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska — Johnson told a room of residents that hiring more American Indian and Alaska Native people will continue to be an important initiative for the department as it attempts to better reflect the community it serves. On Friday, Chief Johnson swore in Ahshapanek as friends, family members, new colleagues and two children watched.
Johnson spoke highly of Ahshapanek’s character and personality, joking that he smiles more than anyone he knows.
Ahshapanek said he grew up on a reservation and knows firsthand what Native populations go through. Often times, he said, it can be easier for a Native person to relate to and communicate with a Native officer.
“We had tribal police,” Ahshapanek said. “With a tribal police officer it was actually more comfortable because we knew each other. They’d say ‘Hey, I know where you live,’ that kind of thing. … It’s more open.”
Ahshapanek’s girlfriend Barbara Dude, a lifelong Juneau resident and a Central Council child welfare program specialist, said she’s happy to know that because of Ahshapanek the police force now better reflects the people living in the community.
“I’m pleased that the Juneau Police department, in hiring Sean as a police officer, is developing a more diverse police force and therefore becoming more representative of our community,” Dude said. “I only serve the tribe (in my role at Central Council), but he gets to serve the entire community. … I’m really excited for him.”
Demographics and diversity aside, Ahshapanek said he’s glad to have the opportunity to do something that pushes him outside of his comfort zone. He said all of the training, exercising and meeting new people is a struggle but an honor, and he looks forward to serving his community.
JPD spokesman Lt. David Campbell said Ahshapanek will spend his first few months as an officer learning about records and other office duties until he can head to Sitka for Law Enforcement Training in February. Ahshapanek has also assisted with searching for missing persons and training with JPD’s canine, Buddy.
Dispatcher Laura Ryan also joined JPD this month. With Ryan’s hire, the department now has a fully-staffed dispatch unit, which Campbell said hasn’t been the case for quite some time.
• Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or paula.solis@juneauempire.com.
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Officer Sean Ahshapanek has his picture taken with family and friends after being sworn into the Juneau Police Department on Friday.
Officer Sean Ahshapanek with his long-time partner, Barbara Dude, after she pinned his badge number on after being sworn into the Juneau Police Department on Friday.
Officer Sean Ahshapanek wears badge number 199 after being sworn into the Juneau Police Department on Friday.
