Fed up with rising crime, Alaskans across the state are taking public safety into their own hands. Individuals have banded together to form neighborhood watch groups and patrol their own streets. Meanwhile in Juneau, legislators are slow to act.
Gov. Bill Walker made it clear that public safety should be a priority this legislative session. As part of the administration's Public Safety Action Plan, the governor introduced a legislative package of smart public safety policies, including a budget that invests in public safety. We are now 80 days into the legislative session.
We are grateful for the steps that legislators have taken so far to make Alaskans safer. By funding Medicaid in the fast track supplemental budget, they protect thousands of Alaskans from losing access to much-needed substance abuse and mental health treatment. The budget that passed the House is a good first step to meet the governor's demand to invest in public safety. And the Senate has taken up some public safety legislation in committee.
But much of the legislative package remains stuck in House committee, and the Senate has provisionally rejected the call to increase investment in public safety. To the thousands of Alaskans who are calling for more action on public safety, this inaction is unacceptable. Even as the state faces a fiscal crisis, we cannot afford to underfund public safety services. It is the people of Alaska who are paying the price.
[Alaska legislative leaders block crime bills amid fears they could undermine SB 91]
Both chambers of the Legislature need to agree to fully fund public safety in the budget and pass the full public safety legislative package. We believe most legislators in both chambers agree that Alaska needs to invest more in public safety and support the bills in our legislative package. The biggest roadblock to progress is not disagreement on substance — it's politics. Our message to the Legislature is simple: Do not play politics with the well-being of Alaskans.
Crime rates have been rising across Alaska for more than five years. The opioid epidemic has fueled crime, while budget cuts have limited the state's ability to deploy enough law enforcement officers, prosecutors or treatment providers. Budget cuts have forced us to close nine trooper posts and reduce positions across the board. Prosecutors have had to prioritize the most serious cases, leaving many property crimes unsolved.
But the problem goes deeper than short-term budget cuts. Many Alaska communities did not receive adequate public safety services even before the price of oil crashed. Alaskans outside of urban hubs still lack conventional 911 service. A caller from a rural community who does manage to reach a dispatcher may have to wait days for help to arrive. And across the state, communities experience persistently high rates of alcoholism, domestic violence and suicide.
After hearing from Alaskans — rightfully concerned about safety in neighborhoods and villages across the state — Gov. Walker worked with department leaders to develop the Public Safety Action Plan, which identifies almost 70 actions the state can take to make Alaskans safer.
The Public Safety Action Plan calls for the state to invest more in public safety and behavioral health services. It directs the state to intervene earlier and more effectively — by deploying pretrial officers to monitor defendants released on bail, providing counseling services before behavioral health problems escalate into criminal activity, and preparing re-entrants for a successful life outside of prison. And by identifying areas for collaboration across departments and across federal, tribal, and local governments, the Public Safety Action Plan lays the groundwork for an integrated response to deeply rooted problems.
We will continue to implement the Action Plan items that do not depend on legislative action. But the Legislature must also do its part.
To move the Action Plan forward, Gov. Walker called on the Legislature to budget a $34 million increase in public safety spending that would go toward a statewide drug prosecutor, additional prosecutors in Western Alaska and Anchorage, trooper investigators, and expansion of substance abuse treatment programs —among other public safety priorities. We urge the Senate to approve funding in the final budget.
If passed, the bills in our Legislative package will allow us to: consider out-of-state criminal history when making pretrial release decisions; take immediate action on new and dangerous drugs by giving the attorney general authority to schedule controlled substances by emergency regulation; crack down with longer jail-time on high-level drug traffickers; support hiring qualified public safety officers in rural communities; and reduce recidivism by giving prisoners access to work and online re-entry planning tools.
These policies will make Alaskans safer, and the House should hear all of them. This is smart justice.
The governor, House and Senate do not always agree on everything. We don't expect them to. But we should be able to agree on this. The safety of our children, our neighbors and our communities depends on it.
Jahna Lindemuth is Alaska's attorney general. Walt Monegan is the commissioner of public safety.