OPINION: The failed community promise of crisis response in Anchorage

The Municipality of Anchorage is learning, in the worst way, that law enforcement and emergency medical services response can result in negative outcomes for the person experiencing crisis, including unnecessary violence or additional trauma. We share community concerns over whether recent public safety engagement in behavioral health emergencies and other emergencies need to have resulted in loss of life, which further stigmatizes and criminalizes mental illness and addiction, and results in loss of trust of law enforcement. Implicit bias training, non-lethal weapons and Alaska’s Crisis Now model were meant to avoid these situations, but local government has failed to deliver, and it has cost human lives.

That’s why we are pushing the municipality to — finally — keep the promises made in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd and in 2021, when the Assembly began exploring a Crisis Now approach to emergency response. While we appreciate the commitments made by the LaFrance administration and Police Chief Sean Case, that means pushing for even more action so we can turn a page as a community and heal from the hurt caused over the last several months. Here is what we propose.

Mobile Crisis Team (MCT) and Mobile Intervention Team (MIT)

The MCT was funded and implemented in early 2022. MCT pairs a paramedic with a clinician to respond to behavioral health calls that come to 911 or 311, where the response would otherwise be handled by the Anchorage Police Department. Similarly, the Anchorage Assembly supported, adding clinicians to the police department to expand the MIT, which dispatches a police officer and a clinician, as a 24/7 service.

When they are available, MCT and MIT response works. In a three-month time, there were 403 total calls. MCT saw a total of 204 unique individuals and had a response time of 32 minutes with an average of 12 calls per day shift (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.). Of those calls, 89% were resolved by MCT with no need for a higher level of care.

Although the funding is there, and we know the approach works, there aren’t enough staff to make 24/7 implementation a reality and instead, our reality is tragedy. In the recent spate of officer-involved shootings, many of the incoming calls were about someone in distress. In none of the instances was the MCT or MIT deployed, either on their own or in conjunction with police response. That needs to change. There must be a realistic timeline to get these services to 24/7 and a look at the practices related to deployment of these services.

Third-party auditor and non-lethal practices

The LaFrance administration has suggested bringing on a third-party auditor to review APD policies and training. We applaud this effort, but this work should not be done in a vacuum. This auditor must have a strong interface with the legislative branch and namely the Public Health and Safety Committee of the Assembly. Even more, the auditor should reach out to the community and provide opportunities to hear directly from those most impacted by negative police encounters.

While the administration goes through the process to onboard a third-party auditor, there must be an immediate review, in public forums, of non-lethal policies, practices, and training. The recent death of 16-year-old Easter Leafa brings this issue to the fore.

Civilian oversight

APD faces a credibility crisis. The recent string of officer-involved shootings and deaths has caused many in our community to ask: When will this end? That’s why we are calling for the creation of some type of civilian oversight model by April 2025 and for the LaFrance administration to include funding for this in its proposed 2025 budget, which will be released on Oct. 2.

Civilian oversight can take many forms, from simply review of police policies and trainings, to actively auditing and ensuring compliance with policies and other protocols, to bringing on an inspector general to replace APD’s internal affairs that would handle investigations.

Chief Case has told the Assembly that the community would tell him if APD is doing a good job and being transparent. We believe that under current circumstances, there needs to be significant improvement. In the end, all the recommendations brought forward should ensure we make good on the promises we’ve made.

Felix Rivera, Daniel Volland and Meg Zaletel are members of the Anchorage Assembly.

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