Harassment by troopers alleged at festival

TALKEETNA -- Several people who attended the Talkeetna Bluegrass Festival say Alaska State Troopers were overzealous in monitoring cars leaving the site. Others called surveillance by a trooper helicopter during the concert "harassment."

No troopers were seen near the entrance and exit of the festival as of mid-day Sunday. However, some who spent several days at the site said problems occurred earlier.

"We've been coming in and going out every day, and each time it's like a gauntlet," said Jason Scruggs of Willow.

He complained that troopers were waiting for the smallest driving infraction as a chance to pull cars over.

"It's sad, because everybody comes here to have a good time," said Salina Scruggs.

Sgt. Rod Johnson of the

Talkeetna trooper office acknowledged there was "highly concentrated enforcement." Five extra troopers were assigned to the Parks Highway near the festival, and regular Talkeetna troopers also worked the area.

"We have no specific targets," said Johnson, "but we want to take preventative measures before someone who has been drinking hits someone else."

Eight criminal cases resulted from the four days of music, he added. Four people were arrested and lodged in jail, and four others received summonses to appear in court. Charges were for driving while intoxicated, driving with license suspended, driving with license revoked, and some drug violations, Johnson said.

Troopers go onto the private festival grounds only when called by the security force known as Karma Kontrol, or for alcohol compliance checks at the beer garden.

Johnson said troopers were called by festival organizers on Saturday to help subdue a person who was belligerent with security and medical personnel. Troopers took the man away and held him until he was sober, Johnson said, adding he apparently was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Besides lots of highway supervision by troopers, some people at the festival were critical of flights by a trooper helicopter. At least two flights in the area were made Sunday afternoon.

"I consider it harassment," said Sally Balchin of Anchorage.

Many of those near the stage showed their anger about 4 p.m. when a helicopter appeared. About 25 men and women bent over and mooned the pilot while others gave the aircraft a single-digit salute.

"We fly the perimeter of the event," Johnson said. "We don't usually fly across. We try not to disturb the concert."

The helicopter is used to patrol along the Parks Highway, he said, and to keep an eye on troopers that may be called onto the festival grounds.

"Some of those contacts can be high risk," Johnson said.

Overall, he said the event went smoothly. He attributed some of that to the Mat-Su Borough's original limit on crowd size, a restriction not changed until just before the festival. But even with the warm, clear weather it became obvious that crowds weren't as big as in past years, Johnson said.

The bigger the crowd, the bigger the statistical chance of trouble, he said.

Festival stage manager Cora Moses agreed that the borough's original stance probably hurt attendance. She said 2,600 attended during the first three days but no crowd estimate had been made of Sunday's turnout.

Moses also believes some people are leery of the festival because it has a reputation for rowdiness and drug use -- neither of which was apparent Sunday.

"It's the rural Alaska legend," Moses said.

Festival organizers want the event to become more family oriented, she said, and music on a children's stage will be expanded next year.

It was good news and bad news as far as this year's vendor lineup. Moses said the number was down about 20 percent from a normal year.

"But the ones who did show up are happy," she said of strong sales.

Martin Qualle, of the Karma Kontrol contingent, said he believes the Kontrol's approach to security gets better results than law enforcement officers' approach.

"It only takes 40 of us to handle 5,000 people, or 5,000 police to handle 40 people," he joked.

Karma Kontrol member Tim Small said there was virtually no problem with crowd behavior.

"We had more problems with people not drinking enough water," he said.

Small praised the efforts by Mat-Su Borough Assembly woman Kelly Lankford Ladere, who opposed a ceiling on attendance.

"The Talkeetna bluegrass participants would like to thank Kelly Lankford Ladere for all her since help and efforts," he said. "She truly is a people's politician."