More police? Borough assembly debates how to fulfill the need

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough is willing to ask a question that officials already know the answer to.

On Tuesday, the Mat Su Borough Assembly voted to put a question before the voters on Oct. 2, asking them if they believe the borough should begin assembling its own police force.

Crime has been at the forefront of discussions throughout the Valley for some time. Many point the finger at SB91 as the reason that criminals are not spending more time in jail and thus committing more crimes. Some point the finger at the state legislature for not filling the funded Alaska State Trooper positions. Numbers thrown around include the 23 extra Troopers that B Detachment Patrol Attendant Tom Dunn said were needed to meet the need for calls coming into Troopers. Forty trooper positions went funded but unfilled. A 57 percent increase would be required in B Detachment, which covers the Mat-Su Valley, troopers to meet the need of crimes coming in.

“I’ve talked to several hundred people about a sheriff's department. One in that group wanted a sheriff's department they agreed to the cost of $30 to $50 million,” Assemblyman Randall Kowalke said.

This borough unanimously passed a resolution to repeal SB91 and it was universally ignored in Juneau.

“We need Juneau to do their job and I would like to see that happen before I ask permission to reach in your pockets and take your tax money,” Kowalke said.

For comparison, the 5.5-square mile area of the city of Palmer is under the jurisdiction of the Palmer Police Department, which employs 15 officers. The 25,000-square mile Mat-Su Valley is patrolled by the B Detachment that has five officers on patrol at any given time with two on one side of Trunk Road and three on the other.

District Attorney Roman Kalytiak was one of the five panelists from law enforcement that met at a forum organized by Rep. DeLena Johnson at the Palmer Senior Center on Saturday. He noted that the small area of the cities of Palmer and Wasilla are able to be managed fairly well by local police departments, but that there are so many areas of the Valley outside the cities where you will not see a trooper.

“The person who put this ordinance forward at the last meeting acknowledged that putting out more police will not decrease crime. We are a rural area. A policeman doesn’t walk a beat here,” Assemblyman George McKee said. “I believe the borough should be doing something. We should be screaming at the state of Alaska to do their job. If you read the Alaska Constitution, the number one issue that the state government has is to provide for the security of the people and they’re not doing that.”

The argument that began in June at an assembly meeting and was postponed until August is still not resolved, as crime has not decreased overnight. Kowalke estimates that starting up the borough’s own police force would cost near $50 million. Kalytiak estimated at the forum on Saturday that it would at least cost $5 million. Fixing problems with law enforcement does not come easy. The Department of Public Safety Academy in Sitka recently took on 47 recruits who may end up stationed in the B Detachment as Alaska State Troopers if that is where they are placed, but they would still not be able to be effective members of the force for nearly three years, by Dunn’s description. Not only are there not enough trooper positions being filled by qualified candidates despite the trooper’s best efforts to recruit as many qualified candidates as possible, but 85 percent of the command staff of AST could retire today. Kalytiak describes two ways to solve the problem, throwing money and people at it.

“In order for us to even approach doing something about it we need to put a lot of time invested into studying how we can if we so choose at some future date establish a Police presence it’s going to take significant amount of staff time to do that. I’m not really willing to make that dedication of staff time unless the voters say to me we want you to look into this,” Assemblyman Dan Mayfield said.