DOJ Declares Law Enforcement Emergency in Rural Alaska Pledging Over $10 Million in FundingPosted & Edited By MARY KAUFFMAN June 28, 2019
The $6 million in emergency funding from the Office of Justice Program’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP-BJA) will go toward hiring, equipping, and training Village Public Safety Officers (VPSOs), Village Police Officers (VPOs), and Tribal Police Officers (TPOs) working in rural Alaska, as well as for mobile detention facilities. In addition, the Department of Justice Office on Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) will award $4.5 million in funding for 20 officer positions, along with equipment and training, to Alaska Native grantees by the end of July. The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and the Office on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) will support Children’s Advocacy Centers (CAC) in rural Alaska’s major hubs, which provide wrap-around services, forensic interviews, and medical exams for child victims. OVC and OJJDP have identified up to $14 million in available funding for CACs in Alaska and the lower 48 states. “In May, when I visited Alaska, I witnessed firsthand the complex, unique, and dire law enforcement challenges the State of Alaska and its remote Alaska Native communities are facing,” said Attorney General Barr. “With this emergency declaration, I am directing resources where they are needed most and needed immediately, to support the local law enforcement response in Alaska Native communities, whose people are dealing with extremely high rates of violence. Today, I am also directing each component and law enforcement agency of the Justice Department to submit plans within the next 30 days to further support federal, state, and tribal public safety efforts in rural Alaska. Lives depend on it, and we are committed to seeing a change in this unacceptable, daily reality for Alaska Native people.” “This declaration of a law enforcement emergency in rural Alaska is unprecedented, and significant news showing positive change for public safety in Alaska Native villages. AVCP has asked for protection and safety of our families and tribal communities, and Attorney General William Barr has heard us. We are not asking for anything less or anything more than any other community in Alaska or the United States. We thank Senator Murkowski, Senator Sullivan, and Congressman Young for their leadership in advocating for rural Alaska,” said Vivian Korthuis, CEO for the Association of Village Council Presidents. “The Alaska delegation and AG Barr have seen firsthand the public safety crisis in rural Alaska and today have honored the requests from tribal leaders who seek to create safe and healthy communities. This funding is greatly appreciated and will be used to expand law enforcement and enhance public safety, creating safer environments for our women and children in our rural communities,” said Victor Joseph, Chief/Chairman of the Tanana Chiefs Conference. The Attorney General also announced a Rural Alaska Violent Crime Reduction Working Group, led by U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder. The Working Group will look for ways to build the capacity of federal, state, and tribal law enforcement in rural Alaska and its work will have a particular emphasis on crimes of domestic violence and crimes against children. BJA is also making an additional $162,000 available to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to establish an additional Project Safe Neighborhoods(PSN) target site encompassing rural Alaska. Quoting a news release from the US Dept. of Justice, Alaska is home to some of the most remote communities in all of America. This geographic isolation contributes to law enforcement problems not seen anywhere else in our Nation. According to one estimate, one-third of Alaskan villages have no local law enforcement personnel at all. According to a 2016 study funded by the National Institute of Justice, more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native adults have experienced some form of violence in their lifetime, and more than half of all American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence from an intimate partner. The lack of law enforcement resources results in a high violent crime rate, especially in Alaska Native communities. Additional near-term measures by Department of Justice components include:
As the Department develops a comprehensive response to public safety issues in Alaska, Attorney General Barr expressed his commitment to working closely with American Indian and Alaska Native leadership as well as Congressional and state representatives to ensure Departmental solutions are practical and effective. The Attorney General will also travel to an Indian country location in the lower 48 states in the coming months, recognizing the significant public safety challenges that persist for many Native American communities. “I want to be sure that the support this Department offers to Alaska Native communities will support solutions identified by the communities themselves,” said Attorney General Barr. “The only way for us to provide effective support is to work in partnership with others. This is true in Alaska and throughout Indian country.” In a memo to all Justice Department component leaders, the Attorney General directed every component and law enforcement agency to submit a plan in the next 30 days to further support these efforts in Alaska, focusing in particular on the following goals:
U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young (all R-Alaska) welcomed the Department of Justice’s Announcement. “Around a month ago I had the opportunity to host Attorney General Barr in Bethel and Napaskiak so that he could see and hear firsthand the challenges faced by Alaskans living in remote communities that are grappling with this public safety crisis. Today’s announcement shows that Attorney General Barr not only saw and heard Alaskans concerns but that he felt them in his heart.” said Senator Murkowski. Murkowski said, “The announcement that came out of the Department of Justice today will direct more resources towards rural Alaska to increase the training and hiring of public safety officers, assist advocacy centers, improve victim services, and invest in many other much needed initiatives. This emergency declaration is a significant first step in creating a safer, more secure Alaska for everyone that calls it home. I appreciate the urgency that the Attorney General is placing on Alaska and our public safety situation and I look forward to working with him to further identify and implement lasting, systemic solutions to rural public safety and wellness in coordination with the Department of Justice.” “I want to thank Attorney General Barr and his team for not only coming to my state to hear from Alaskans about our public safety and law enforcement challenges, but for quickly taking concrete actions to help provide protections to Alaskans that most other Americans take for granted,” said Senator Sullivan. Sullivan said, “As Alaskans know, we have a public safety crisis in our state, in both rural and urban areas. The statistics, particularly related to sexual assault and child abuse, are horrifying. But statistics don’t tell the full story. The full story comes from the people themselves—stories of heartbreak, and suffering, and wrecked lives. In extensive roundtables with federal, state and local law enforcement, victims’ rights groups, and community leaders in Anchorage, as well as in his travels to rural Alaska, General Barr and his team listened. This announcement indicates that he, and the Justice Department, are committed to helping the people in Alaska who need it the most.” “Alaskans know that our state’s vast geography presents unique challenges, especially for law enforcement in rural areas. The remoteness of countless communities – including Native villages – makes crime prevention and prosecution particularly difficult. Alaskans deserve peace of mind, and too many families are witnessing surging levels of crime in their once safe communities. Horrifying stories of homicide, sexual assault, and other violent crimes have recently made headlines, and we must be doing all that we can to bring perpetrators to justice,” said Congressman Young. “The declaration of a law enforcement emergency and the $6 million in federal funding that comes with it is welcome news not only for the families that have been victims of crime, but also for the children of Alaska who deserve to grow up in neighborhoods that are safe and secure. Attorney General Barr has been and continues to be an important partner for Alaska as we work to turn the tide in the fight against rising crime rates, and I am grateful for his ongoing support. I will continue working with the delegation to ensure that Alaska’s law enforcement agencies have the tools and resources they need to keep Alaskans safe,”said Young.
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