Public safety in Alaska during the COVID-19 pandemic

We are living through an extraordinary time, where public health is the focus of our lives. However, “hunkering down” doesn’t take away the need for public safety, and should increase our gratitude for the brave law enforcement officers who protect all of us in the Great Land. Primarily, that means the sworn officers, specifically the patrol officers, from the Alaska State Troopers, Anchorage Police Department, Fairbanks Police Department, Juneau Police Department and all the other smaller departments across the state. Those officers risk their lives every day and now have to add a pandemic virus to the hazards they face.

Federal law enforcement agencies are also on the job, and COVID-19 creates very special challenges to this dedicated group of special agents, investigators and deputy U.S. marshals. From the beginning of this crisis, Attorney General William Barr has made it clear that the critical law enforcement mission of the Justice Department will continue. Criminals do not let a pandemic slow them down for long, and often use a fearful time such as this to take advantage of the law-abiding public. It is important for the public to understand how to continue to protect themselves during this difficult time.

First, watch out for scam artists. This brand of criminal takes the emotions of the public, in this case fear of illness, and turns them to their advantage. Fraudsters will pose as government officials, health care workers, sellers of personal protective equipment and peddlers of instant test kits or miracle cures. Their goal is to separate you from your money or, more subtly, to separate you from your personal data that can later be used to harm you. To address this, Attorney General Barr created the COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force. Locally, we have also assembled a Coronavirus Fraud Team to work with our state and local partners to protect Alaskans. For more information on types of COVID-19 scams, visit www.justice.gov/coronavirus. If you have information on a scam, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via email at disaster@leo.gov.

Next, do not succumb to fear-mongering or attempts to cast blame on various peoples or ethnic groups. It is categorically false that certain groups of people are more susceptible to carrying the coronavirus based on their real or perceived race or ethnicity. Spreading these untruths is un-Alaskan and puts our communities at risk. We are better than that. Attorney General Barr and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Eric Dreiband have called upon Justice Department prosecutors throughout the country to watch for hate-motivated acts of violence. The Justice Department will prosecute hate crimes and violations of anti-discrimination laws against Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Alaska Natives and others to the fullest extent of the law.

Finally, inmates in our jails and prisons are trying to capitalize on the fear surrounding COVID-19 to leverage a release from confinement. This includes convicted criminals, as well as charged defendants being detained pending trial who have already been determined by a judge to be a danger to our community or a flight risk. Certainly, some cases exist where inmates who are not dangerous may have serious medical conditions making them more susceptible to the virus. However, other inmates who are dangerous and not particularly susceptible to the virus will also try to take advantage of any crisis to avoid accountability for their crimes. For those inmates in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons outside of the state, Attorney General Barr used his own authority and the authorities granted to him in the CARES Act to expand the use of home confinement, especially in federal prisons encountering significant COVID-19 outbreaks, and only for those who do not pose a danger to the community.

For those seeking release or opposing detention pre-trial here in Alaska, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is looking at each request for release on its own facts. For example, does the inmate truly have a medical condition making them susceptible to COVID-19? Do they have a release plan into the community that reasonably protects them from the virus, understanding that the Alaska Department of Corrections has made serious efforts to protect the prison population, and to date has no infected inmates? The last, and most crucial factor, is whether the inmate is too dangerous to release to the public. In sum, we are taking a proactive, but lawful and safe approach. Proposals for the indiscriminate, wholesale release of prisoners could endanger both the rule of law and law-abiding members of the public, especially in communities already suffering from high rates of violent crime. Attorney General Barr explained: “We have a solemn duty to protect people in federal custody, and we also have an obligation to protect the public. We cannot simply release prison populations en masse onto the streets.”

The prosecutors, civil attorneys, and staff of the U.S. Attorney’s Office here in Alaska are on the job. While respecting the social distancing restrictions put in place by state and local officials, we are working with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to protect the people of Alaska. Take care of yourselves, your families and your neighbors. Be safe for all of us.

Bryan Schroder serves as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska.

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