Anchorage's park system and greenbelts are one of our city's best assets. Our parks raise property values, contribute to our economy and to our local culture of exercise and outdoor activity. Unfortunately, a small group of people have been trashing our parks. During a recent meeting, members from the South Addition, Fairview, Airport Heights, Rogers Park and Northstar community councils discussed solutions and proposed that the municipality implement them.
Homelessness, crime, and other threats to our parks aren't simple problems with simple solutions. Most homeless people and vagrants have behavioral health issues. We have to clear out camps, but that's not going to solve the problem alone. Kicking them out requires police, difficult when the force is recovering after being decimated by the previous administration. Clearing out the camps and cleaning up the parks requires a multifaceted solution, with strong engagement from the municipality and mayor. Here are possible solutions.
[CITY'S PLAN: Anchorage's new summer strategies for dealing with homelessness]
First, the police and park staff must be more aggressive clearing out camps. The mayor identified funding for new staff dedicated to clearing camps. APD's CAP team clears camps, but they also connect homeless people with potential support services. The mayor's team is developing a website and app so the public can identify homeless camps and receive updates on the status of mitigation.
Second, administration can help by cleaning up the obscene amount of trash left at abandoned camps and respond to new camps identified for cleanup. Thanks to the mayor's office, park staff have new capacity. This is important because clean-up isn't practical for volunteers given the health and safety issues associated with cleaning up waste from drug addicts.
Third, we must identify housing for homeless people willing to live indoors. Funding secured by community council activism has funded the mayor's initiative to identify housing for approximately 80 homeless people, making a significant dent in Anchorage's overall homeless population. This will further expand housing this summer. That housing must be accompanied by substance abuse and mental health treatment to address the underlying causes of individuals' homelessness. The mayor's homelessness coordinator is ensuring that kind of coordination happens at unprecedented levels.
Finally, we must have a police force with the capacity to address and prevent crime in parks. The Sullivan administration eliminated approximately 100 police officers — 25 percent of the force. Police have been too busy responding to violent and major crimes to deal with lower-level offenses and homeless camps. Bicycles are being stolen, cars being rifled through and intruders are invading personal property for petty theft. Mayor Berkowitz and the Assembly are rebuilding the police force now. We've recovered half the positions lost during Sullivan's tenure and will fully restore the force within the next 18 months, including adding at least four police officers to the CAP team directly dealing with homeless individuals.
The importance of an adequate police force cannot be overstated when dealing with the complex problems of crime and homelessness. As the force regains strength, we look forward to police patrols on foot and bike in the parks. With a strong and regular police presence, we can assure all residents that our parks are safe. It's conceivable that APD will be able to actively patrol the trail system on a daily basis in the areas of concentrated encampments, providing an important public safety presence to campers, commuters and the public.
[ICYMI: News media, community leaders should see the homeless as more than a nuisance cliche]
Clearing out camps and vagrants from the park system is a good start but isn't enough. We have ceded enough public space to problem users. Ultimately, we need more positive uses in the park. When families and law-abiding citizens use our parks, trouble stays away. The new playground on the Campbell Creek Trail at Lake Otis is an example of how positive uses can eliminate what was a crime and vagrancy hot spot.
The Park Foundation, park staff and the mayor are rolling out a new system of wayfinding to help people access and navigate our greenbelts. You'll see new signs and maps for this effort on and near the Ship Creek trail system this summer. This wayfinding effort is an important part of the solution because it brings more walkers, bike commuters and families to our parks. It should be tied into the Emergency 911 Dispatch system so when and emergency occurs on the trail, users and first responders can quickly communicate the location of an emergency to EMS. These changes will make our parks safer for everyone.
Mayor Berkowitz is making it safer for walking and biking so we can access parks safely from nearby neighborhoods. This is making our community a better place to live. If you have other ideas for positive uses and bringing more people into the parks, come to a community council meeting or reach out to the parks staff.
Christopher Constant is immediate past president of the Fairview Community Council. Iris Matthews is immediate past president of Rogers Park Community Council. Barbara Karl is president of the Airport Heights Community Council.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary@alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com or click here to submit via any web browser.