With the busy summer season almost here, it's still unclear what agency will patrol the highly dangerous stretch of the Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm south of McHugh Creek. Officials from the state and the municipality of Anchorage continue to argue over why they cannot or should not have to police what's been dubbed the state's deadliest stretch of highway and the small communities nestled along its path.
The problem arose when the Alaska State Troopers announced they would close their post in Girdwood (the ski town within the municipality of Anchorage, just off the highway) on July 1. Since the Anchorage Police Department does not provide regular service to the area, the troopers' departure would leave Girdwood, Indian and Portage without a definitive law enforcement presence. And since the Girdwood post's primary duty was to patrol the Seward Highway from McHugh Creek to Hope, the closure has led to a standoff between state and local officials about whose responsibility that stretch of road is.
Troopers Director Col. James Cockrell wrote in a letter dated April 21 to Anchorage Police Chief Chris Tolley that troopers will not provide general police services along the highway. Those responsibilities will be ceded to the municipality, Cockrell said.
Troopers plan to assist in a "backup role" and will hold scenes until Anchorage officers arrive, he said. They will also handle vehicle accidents while a trooper is on duty patrolling the highway.
"However, we will not call out a trooper to handle (crashes) on the Seward Highway after hours," Cockrell wrote. "Those … will need to be handled by APD."
This position has stayed the same since previous discussions with the Anchorage Police Department in February, said troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters. The three troopers assigned to the highway will not be available 24 hours a day, she said.
City attorney Bill Falsey said Tuesday that Anchorage police are unable to provide services past McHugh Creek.
APD cannot agree to take on the responsibility because it's funded by taxes collected from the Anchorage metropolitan police service area, which ends at McHugh Creek, Falsey said.
"State law says taxes collected within the service area are not to be used for functions outside of the service area," he said. "Where Cockrell is saying we've decided not to provide that service, I don't think that's correct."
Anchorage police can but are not obligated to respond to public emergencies, such as imminent threats of death and disasters, Falsey said.
Meanwhile, Girdwood itself is expected to be served by two officers from the nearby town of Whittier. Ballot Proposition 9, which asked voters in Girdwood to tax themselves to pay for police in anticipation of the troopers' departure?, passed by three votes after a recount in the April municipal election.
On Monday, the Girdwood Board of Supervisors voted to increase the property tax by .59 mills between July 1 and the end of the year to potentially pay for the two officers. That tax increase equates to an additional $59 for $100,000 of property.
The tax is likely to increase in 2017, as residents only need to pay for six months of police protection this year.
The board also voted to begin contract negotiations with the Whittier Police Department, said co-chair Sam Daniel, who also serves on Girdwood's public safety task force. The contract will be reviewed by the task force and the community at large, and approved by the local land use committee, he said.
So far, the plan calls for two Whittier officers to work in staggered shifts. The Whittier Police Department has said it will supply vehicles and can do without an office space. Daniel said the board is considering moving into the troopers' old location, in a strip mall along the Seward Highway.
It's still unclear whether those local officers would provide traffic enforcement when in transit between the two towns, Daniel said.
There currently is no concrete timeline for putting the contract in place, he said.
"We may not have officers on July 1. We're not treating that date as an absolute deadline," Daniel said. "We're moving forward cautiously, given how split the vote ended up being."