Legislature(2011 - 2012)BUTROVICH 205
01/24/2012 10:30 AM Senate JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Crime Summit | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
January 24, 2012
10:38 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Hollis French, Chair
Senator Bill Wielechowski, Vice Chair
Senator Joe Paskvan
Senator Lesil McGuire
Senator John Coghill
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Senator Johnny Ellis
Senator Bettye Davis
Representative Carl Gatto
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CRIME SUMMIT
-HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
ANNIE PENNUCCI, Senior Research Associate
Washington State Institute for Public Policy
Olympia, WA
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered a presentation to the Crime
Summit.
KAREN LOEFFLER, United States Attorney
District of Alaska
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered a presentation to the Crime
Summit.
RICK SVOBODNY, Acting Attorney General
Alaska Department of Law
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered a presentation to the Crime
Summit.
ADRIENNE BACHMAN, District Attorney
Criminal Division
Department of Law
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered a presentation to the Crime
Summit.
CYNTHIA FRANKLIN, Municipal Criminal Prosecutor
Municipality of Anchorage
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered a presentation to the Crime
Summit.
JOSEPH MASTERS, Commissioner
Department of Public Safety
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered a presentation to the Crime
Summit.
COLONEL KEITH MALLARD, Director
Alaska State Troopers
Department of Public Safety
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered a presentation to the Crime
Summit.
GREG BROWNING, Chief of Police
Juneau Police Department, and
Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered a presentation to the Crime
Summit.
MARK MEW, Chief of Police
Anchorage Police Department
Municipality of Anchorage
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered a presentation to the Crime
Summit.
LANCE KETTERLING, Sergeant
Palmer Police Department
Palmer, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered a presentation to the Crime
Summit.
DENNIS JOHNSON, Program Director
Alaska Pretrial Services
Kenai, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered a presentation to the Crime
Summit.
ACTION NARRATIVE
10:38:39 AM
CHAIR HOLLIS FRENCH called the Senate Judiciary Standing
Committee meeting to order at 10:38 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Coghill, Paskvan, Wielechowski, and Chair
French.
^Crime Summit
Crime Summit
10:39:14 AM
CHAIR FRENCH announced the business before the committee would
be a two-day crime summit. He explained that his thinking about
the summit was shaped by two things. First is the knowledge that
over the last 10 years more and more nonviolent offenders are
incarcerated. Second is that despite building the Goose Creek
prison, the Department of Corrections predicts that it will be
over capacity by 2015. The Goose Creek prison cost $238 million
to build, the rough equivalent of building four new high
schools, and will cost almost as much as a new high school to
operate each year. "I am perfectly okay with sending deserving
individuals to prison for long periods of time, but we ignore
these costs at our peril," he stated. The question is how to
bend that curve and push the over capacity date farther into the
future.
He related that during the 2008 Crime Summit, Steve Aos with the
Washington State Institute of Public Policy spoke about
evidenced-based rehabilitation systems. His work prompted the
Legislature to contract with the UAA Institute of Social and
Economic Research for a similar study of programs offered in
Alaska. That study showed that electronic monitoring systems
save lots of money, but do not reduce recidivism, whereas sex
offender programs reduce recidivism but produce no savings
because they're extremely expensive. These are important things
to keep in mind when constructing responses to a burgeoning
prison population.
The full report is available on the UAA ISER website, but one
program that jumps out as a curve bender is the Head Start
program. It saves six times more money than it costs, and
reduces future crime among participants by about 16 percentage
points. Annie Pennucci with the Washington State Institute for
Public Policy will substantiate this further when she discusses
her analytic work in this area. Senator French stated that this
was a collaborative effort and he appreciates that Governor
Parnell is an ally in trying to reduce crime rates in Alaska. He
raised public awareness through the Choose Respect campaign and
put money in the budget for more Village Public Safety Officers
(VPSO).
CHAIR FRENCH welcomed Annie Pennucci from the Washington State
Institute for Public Policy whose research specialty was
education topics.
10:43:47 AM
ANNIE PENNUCCI, Senior Research Associate, Washington State
Institute for Public Policy, explained that the institute was
created nearly 38 years ago to conduct nonpartisan research that
was assigned through policy bills or the biannual budget. She
said that today she would primarily focus on findings related to
the intersection of education and crime.
MS. PENNUCCI explained that reports to the Washington State
Legislature are done in a Consumer Reports type listing of
programs that address what works, what doesn't work, what it
costs to provide the program, and what it is worth to the state
given the benefits measured. This format makes it possible to
compare programs that are as different as sex offender treatment
and Head Start. These legislative reports also state when the
available research is inconclusive or insufficient to determine
whether or not a program works.
10:47:23 AM
CHAIR FRENCH highlighted that the www.wsipp.wa.gov website was
an invaluable research center for criminal justice matters.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked for an explanation of the
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care Program; it appeared to
cut crime by 22 percent and save [$77,798.]
MS. PENNUCCI replied that was outside her topic area, but the
idea is that a team of different providers address the issues
that the children and families have from multiple dimensions. It
might or might not include the criminal justice system but
probably does involve schools.
10:50:15 AM
MS. PENNUCCI displayed a chart showing that since 1980
Washington state crime rates have dropped about 43 percent while
taxpayer costs more than doubled. In part this reflects more
services today than 30 years ago, but the question that the
institute focuses on is bending the cost curve, keeping crime
rates low and spending less. A report from the UAA Institute of
Social and Economic Research shows a very similar trend so the
same questions apply to Alaska as to Washington.
She explained that the institute uses a three-step research
approach:
1) Gather all available studies on a topic; apply scientific
standards of evidence to social science research to identify the
high quality studies; and analyze all of the higher quality
studies to estimate the average effect. This mathematical figure
or standard deviation is the best guess of what will happen if
something like early childhood education is implemented. She
highlighted that a change by one standard deviation has real
meaning in terms of improvement in the lives of individuals and
the state overall. For example, research literature has found
that an individual who increases their test score by one
standard deviation increases their lifetime earnings by 12
percent.
2) Determine the long-term economics of each outcome looking at
the magnitude and timing of each measured outcome, whether it is
linked to another unmeasured outcome, and the long-term impacts
on the participant, taxpayers, and other people in society.
3) Calculate the odds of a program actually having the expected
impacts to get as comprehensive a view as possible of the
benefits that accrue from different policies.
CHAIR FRENCH recognized that Senator Bettye Davis, Commissioner
Mike Hanley, and Commissioner Joe Schmidt were present.
MS. PENNUCCI reviewed the WSIPP benefit-cost model: 1) Compute
effect sizes from two literatures; 2) Compute unit changes from
the base information; 3) Apply a monetary valuation to the unit
changes; and 4) Compute the benefit/cost statistics, expressed
in net present value, lifetime terms, and calculate risk [Monte
Carlo simulation] by varying the inputs randomly and running the
model many times. These statistics represent the percent of time
the program or policy will break even, given the evidence at
hand.
11:00:42 AM
MS. PENNUCCI reviewed an example of the model for early
childhood education (ECE). Sixty six studies were included in
the meta-analysis and the target population was low-income 3 and
4 year-olds. The research covered the federal Head Start
program, state preschool programs, the Perry Preschool program,
the Abecedarin program, and the Chicago Parent Child Centers.
The analysis intended to find the expected overall impact of
investing in this ECE concept. To determine effect sizes,
students who were in the program were compared to students who
were not in the program. The two groups were carefully
controlled to ensure that they were initially very comparable,
so that the difference in outcomes could believably be
attributed to the program. The follow-up period of the students
was to age 40, which is rather unusual for education studies.
11:04:34 AM
CHAIR FRENCH recognized that Senator McGuire and Representative
Gatto joined the meeting.
MS. PENNUCCI highlighted seven statistically significant impacts
that were found in the meta-analysis. Early childhood education
for 3 and 4 year old low-income children: 1) increased
standardized test scores; 2) increased high school graduation
rates; 3) decreased crime rates later in the youth's life; 4)
decreased K-12 special education placements; 5) decreased K-12
grade repetition; 6) decreased child abuse and neglect; and 7)
decreased out-of-home placements.
CHAIR FRENCH asked how going to preschool was connected to less
abuse and neglect at home.
11:06:53 AM
MS. PENNUCCI replied she believes that finding was related to
the model programs like the Chicago Parent Child Centers where
teachers also work with parents to improve parenting skills and
to teach them what behaviors to expect at different milestones.
That impact might not show up in the large scale programs like
Head Start that focus on academics. She noted that outcomes were
also measured for public assistance, teen pregnancies, teen
births, college attendance, and employment rates, but the
impacts weren't consistent.
11:08:52 AM
MS. PENNUCCI displayed a slide to illustrate the initial and
enduring impact of early childhood education (ECE). The research
from a number of different studies shows that the initial impact
on test scores can be an increase of almost one standard
deviation. Nine years later when that cohort was entering high
school the impact had decreased by about half. The research
doesn't answer why that initial gain fades, but it is still
there. Even a .13 change in standard deviation means a two
percent boost in an individual's lifetime earnings. She noted
that Washington state has one million K-12 students and that
represents a huge savings for the state.
Responding to a question from Senator Coghill, she clarified
that the slide focused on the low-income population that
received preschool education compared to the low-income
population that did not receive preschool.
11:12:29 AM
MS. PENNUCCI displayed a graph of Washington state high school
graduation rates for 2004-2010 and said the evidence found that
early childhood education increased those rates by a fairly
reliable amount.
CHAIR FRENCH observed that the graduation rate in 2010 was above
80 percent and that Alaska was working to get its rates above 60
percent.
MS. PENNUCCI clarified that the graph was intended to show
trends, and counted students who took more than four years to
graduate. She said these rates are still too low given the
research that says that graduating from high school is an
important gateway to positive outcomes for both the public and
individuals. A high school diploma makes a difference in
earnings, crime, substance abuse, and healthcare over a person's
lifetime. It's different than getting a General Equivalency
Diploma (GED); the payoffs aren't the same.
She continued to explain that the graduation rates for low
income students were generally 6-8 percentage points lower than
the average for the entire state. But when the rates were
adjusted for the ECE impact that the research indicated, the
low-income gap very nearly disappeared. She opined that the
rates could become even if coupled with other interventions such
as better teachers.
11:15:43 AM
CHAIR FRENCH summarized that the students that went to preschool
graduated at the same rate as all students, despite the
significant difference in graduation rates for low income
students compared to the rest of the population.
MS. PENNUCCI agreed that preschool just about erases the gap.
She explained that she analyzed the findings from 11 individual
studies that directly measure crime outcomes and plotted the
effect sizes to summarize whether there was more or less crime
for the preschool students versus the non-preschool kids, and
how much less crime. The students were followed, sometimes into
adulthood, to see if they had been arrested, convicted or self-
reported crimes. She clarified that these were findings from
individual studies so the summary shows a range of how much
crime is avoided from preschool. One study found a very small
increase, but on average crime went down for preschool students
by about .23 standard deviations. This held true for the kids at
age 16 as well as into their 30s, so there was not a fadeout
from this measure.
CHAIR FRENCH summarized that there is a persistent lifetime
crime-reducing element in preschool.
MS. PENNUCCI agreed. Continuing, she stated that separate
literature measured the impact that high school graduation has
on crime rates, and found a smaller reduction. People who
graduate from high school will probably commit less or even no
crime, but the impact is about half compared to early childhood
intervention. She opined that this finding speaks to the
importance of early versus later intervention.
11:18:10 AM
SENATOR PASKVAN suggested it would be helpful if she would
explain standard deviations in relationship to percentages.
MS. PENNUCCI displayed a chart that plotted lifetime expected
crime rates by age group for the low-income population versus
low-income participants who had preschool. She explained that
the x or left axis measures the percent of individuals with any
kind of conviction and the y axis measures age. The findings
show that 8-year-olds do not commit crimes, but by age 23 almost
60 percent of the Washington state low income population have
been convicted of some sort of crime [versus 50 percent for the
low-income preschool participants.]
CHAIR FRENCH asked if a traffic ticket would count as a crime.
MS. PENNUCCI replied it doesn't have to be much more than that.
She noted that [slide 16] showed the effect size of -.23 and
that essentially translates to a 20 percent reduction in crime
among the low-income populations. Statewide it wouldn't be that
high because this measures just the low-income population, but
there would be a reduction in overall rates.
CHAIR FRENCH stated that in the near future the committee would
have a similar presentation using Alaska numbers.
MS. PENNUCCI said she'd next discuss the findings in financial
terms. The estimated cost to provide 1.5 years of preschool to
each low-income child in Washington state is $7,295.
She noted that the institute was working through the Pew
Foundation to assist other states in putting their own data into
the model to get estimates that are relevant to the particular
state.
To calculate the return on investment, the summary benefits per
individual who went to preschool were as follows:
· Reduced crime stemming from lower criminal justice and
victim costs was worth $6,066.
· Educational gains stemming from increased earnings for the
individual were worth $9,887.
· Special education reduction stemming from lower K-12 costs
was worth $1,098.
· Grade repetition reduction stemming from lower K-12 costs
was worth $310.
· Less child abuse and neglect stemming from lower child
welfare and victim costs was worth $637.
· Fewer out-of-home placements stemming from lower child
welfare and victim costs was worth $379.
· Lower health care system costs stemming from lower Medicaid
enrollment was worth $662.
The lifetime benefits per individual totaled $21,667, which
translates to a $3 return for every dollar invested, or a 6
percent return on investment. She noted that some Washington
state legislators cite an $8 return for every dollar invested in
preschool, but those results were from just one study of the
Perry Preschool program. The $3 number is based on broad
research that takes into account the less-focused programs such
as Head Start.
CHAIR FRENCH commented that it's a remarkable economic argument
for preschool.
11:24:14 AM
SENATOR COGHILL asked where the Perry Preschool study fit in the
model and if it drove the overall results higher.
MS. PENNUCCI explained that it was a '60s era program and study
that targeted low-income African Americans. The program model
was extensive, and provided more intensive services than the
typical Head Start program. Clarifying further, she said the
Perry Preschool study had about 100 kids, whereas some of the
other studies she analyzed had 100,000 kids. The computation of
the average impact takes into account the average size of the
study. She confirmed that the Perry Preschool study was well
done and the findings valid, but that the institute's summary
results were more reflective of the larger-scale programs like
the federal Head Start and statewide preschool programs..
11:27:20 AM
MS. PENNUCCI said the next graph speaks to the investment risk,
the Monte Carlo simulation.
CHAIR FRENCH asked for an explanation of the Monte Carlo
simulation
MS. PENNUCCI explained that it is basically computational
algorithms that rely on repeated random sampling to compute the
results. There's an estimate of the effect size or what the
program is expected to achieve and there are cost estimates with
the benefits. These inputs are put into the economic model and
allowed to vary so there are different iterations of how things
could possibly shake out in the real world. The model is
typically run 500 times. The graph shows the distribution of
estimates coming out of the Monte Carlo simulation. As
previously mentioned, $3 was the average expected payoff per
low-income individual who attends preschool. In the best case
scenario the payoff could be as high as $30, but the real world
isn't generally like that.
For early childhood education programs the outcome was nearly a
100 percent statistic, which means they would expect the program
to pay off more than it costs to product nearly 100 percent of
the time. It's a solid investment. By comparison, she said she
found that lengthening the school year had a 50 percent pay off
ratio. That's not as solid as preschool. She noted that the
Consumer Reports type list that they develop has all that
information lined up together which makes it easy to compare
preschool to other programs or interventions and see the risk as
well as ultimate pay off.
MS. PENNUCCI displayed a chart to illustrate the estimates of
benefits for different outcomes, starting with crime. The totals
for each outcome are the measured benefits per individual that
were used to calculate the return on investment in an earlier
chart.
The benefit of reduced crime.
· To participant - no direct benefit, but he/she isn't doing
crime.
· To taxpayers - $1,352 savings due to less prisons, courts
and police.
· To others - $4,031 represents victim costs.
· Other indirect or dead weight costs - $683 in extra
benefits that society as a whole gets from not having such
a large tax burden.
· Total estimated benefit from reduced crime - $6,066.
Increased lifetime earnings through educational gains. She
explained that this benefit was estimated through both increased
high school graduation rates and increased test scores. They
found that increases in test scores was a better predictor,
which points to the importance of the cognitive ability that is
developed over time. The summary results include just the higher
measure so the total estimated benefit was $9,887.
11:30:52 AM
The benefit of reduced health care system costs.
· To participant - <$136> This negative benefit reflects the
fact that individuals with more education spend more on
their healthcare. Money is coming out of their pocket.
· To taxpayers - $1,059 This large benefit reflects the fact
that people with higher levels of education are less likely
to be on public assistance, including Medicaid.
· To others - <$792> This costs comes from insurance
companies paying more for healthcare.
· Other indirect - $532
· Total - $662
MS. PENNUCCI said there are also payoffs from reducing burdens
on the K-12 system as well as the child welfare system. These
and the other benefits were in the summary of benefits per
individual used to calculate the return on investment.
11:34:08 AM
MS. PENNUCCI displayed a graph showing annual investment
returns, the net program cost and the total benefits per year.
It's an important consideration for early childhood education
because the investment is made in years one and two and the
major payoffs don't show up until the kids reach the crime-
committing age.
CHAIR FRENCH observed that the prime crime committing years are
ages 18-25, so there's a 15-year lag between the investment and
the economic payoff.
MS. PENNUCCI said they estimate that early childhood education
breaks even about the time the kids finish high school, after
which it's pure benefit. A lot of the early savings are in the
child welfare system, the K-12 system, and the early crime
years.
MS. PENNUCCI summarized that the evidence is that early
childhood education for low-income 3 and 4-year-olds
consistently improves outcomes across multiple dimensions. Crime
rates among participants are reduced by 20 percent.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if the comparison was across the same
economic cohort.
MS. PENNUCCI answered yes. She added that the overall crime rate
might be 12-15 percent because it would be diluted, but they
also know that low-income people are more likely to commit
crimes so they comprise the bulk of that rate.
Another important finding from the research is that early
intervention appears to have a stronger impact. Other
interventions have positive outcomes but early intervention is
more effective and produces a bigger payoff.
CHAIR FRENCH observed that investing in remedial classes at the
high school level costs more and bends the curve less.
MS. PENNUCCI agreed; in all the policy areas they looked at they
found that earlier is better. Continuing the summary, she said
the economics show that early childhood education pays off and
that the risk is low. The bottom line is that early childhood
education nearly always breaks even.
11:37:49 AM
MS. PENNUCCI said that the remainder of the presentation would
be a discussion about how this work has impacted Washington
state as well as some lessons they've learned, particularly in
the area of criminal justice.
The Washington State Institute for Public Policy started doing
systematic reviews of juvenile justice and adult criminal
justice in the late 1990s, and the Washington State Legislature
started funding evidence-based programs at that time. WSIPP
began to develop the Consumer Reports type lists of evidence-
based programs and the Legislature started using that to make
budget decisions. For example, in 2002 research on drug
offenders and drug courts was used to cut prison sentences for
certain drug offenders. The savings were invested in the less
expensive drug courts, which were shown to reduce recidivism.
The outcomes were better.
In 2007 the Legislature again funded a portfolio of evidence-
based criminal justice programs. A line item directs the
juvenile rehabilitation administration to implement the programs
on the WSIPP list.
CHAIR FRENCH asked how these programs were holding up under the
current budget pressures.
MS. PENNUCCI replied all programs are vulnerable, but her
understanding is that these are still in place because they have
supporting economic analysis.
Continuing, she said that since about [2006] early childhood
education has played a larger role in the state budget and the
Legislature has taken steps to include it in the state's basic
education program.
11:40:29 AM
MS. PENNUCCI displayed a graph of juvenile arrest rates from
1990 through 2006 that shows that Washington state rates have
declined more than the overall U.S. rates. About the time that
Washington's juvenile arrest rate dipped below the nationwide
rate is about the time that the state began to focus on
evidence-based programs. The gap between the two rates grew
wider about the time that Washington started focusing on "full
fidelity" implementation of the programs. Staying true to the
program model produces better results.
She summarized three implementation issues they learned.
· Align the participants with the right programs, and focus
resources on the higher-risk populations, which is the
low-income kids. It may be more fair to have a universal
preschool program that children of any income level can
attend, but the payoff won't be as large as focusing on
just low-income kids.
· Maintain fidelity to the model to get the expected
impacts. A good assessment process ensures that the right
people are served.
· Include funding formulas with the right incentives.
Encourage interest, adherence, and innovation in evidence-
based programs.
CHAIR FRENCH asked what preschool program Washington state has
for 3 and 4-year-olds.
MS. PENNUCCI replied it's similar to Head Start, but it isn't
fully funded so some eligible kids are left out. The goal is to
make it available to any income level, but attendance is not
compulsory.
CHAIR FRENCH asked what percentage of low-income kids are
currently served.
MS. PENNUCCI offered to follow up with the information.
11:43:16 AM
SENATOR COGHILL asked how enrollment decisions are made when
there's limited capacity.
MS. PENNUCCI replied it's a local option, but that could
influence the impacts.
SENATOR MCGUIRE asked how many kids try and cannot get into
preschool.
MS. PENNUCCI replied the state does not collect that
information, but Race to the Top grant moneys are being used to
improve the state's data system so that type of information will
be collected in the future.
11:45:05 AM
She summarized recent developments in Washington state.
· The Department of Early Learning was created in 2006 as a
way to focus attention on early learning as opposed to K-12
and higher education systems.
· A full phase in of the universal state-funded, voluntary
early childhood education program is expected by 2018.
· WaKIDS is a pilot kindergarten assessment that will
determine readiness to learn at the K-12 level for students
coming out of preschools.
· The 2011 Race to the Top $60 million grant will primarily
be used on quality and data improvements.
11:46:07 AM
CHAIR FRENCH noted that Alaska started a statewide pilot pre-K
program several years ago, and the first and second year results
were similar to those presented in the education arena. The
results will probably be similar when those six-year-olds become
18-year-olds and start making choices about what do after school
in the crime arena. He asked her to describe the strongest
criticism of this approach.
MS. PENNUCCI replied it's similar to the questions at the end of
the presentation about how this actually works. These research
reviews look at broad concepts and bottom lines, but there isn't
information about how to actually do this.
CHAIR FRENCH observed that it's an interesting gap, but after
looking at enough studies it's a reasonable expectation that the
outcome will be positive.
SENATOR COGHILL questioned how the outcomes might compare if the
participant group was middle income, which quite often has less
asset availability than the low-income. He asked if she had any
information about crime rates and the jail population for that
cohort.
11:50:10 AM
MS. PENNUCCI said that speaks to another limitation of the
research. Education studies primarily focus on low income, but
that doesn't mean that there aren't issues in other populations.
Financial aid for higher education is a good example. There's
aid for the poor and the rich can self-pay, but those in the
middle are stuck.
SENATOR COGHILL said that population needs to be compared along
the way.
SENATOR MCGUIRE said she agrees with Senator Coghill; as this
model is considered there should be discussion about applying it
more broadly, because the middle class make up the bulk of the
population of the state. The notion of publicly-funded preschool
is intriguing precisely because it's the public school system
that has given so many opportunities to young people and
families in this state, regardless of their economic status.
She asked how Washington state implemented publicly-funded
preschools. Knowing that resources are limited, she questioned
if the basis was income qualification or geography.
11:53:29 AM
MS. PENNUCCI explained that when it comes to education
Washington focuses on the lowest income first, giving
consideration to geographic distribution to ensure statewide
access. When resources are scarce the focus is on the lowest
income. But concern about the middle tier could be a rationale
for a universal rather than targeted program. There would still
be benefits to the state.
SENATOR COGHILL said it's a challenge to figure out what
evidence-based means in a state that has such geographic and
societal diversity. He asked if the criteria for evidence-based
was set before they ran the model.
MS. PENNUCCI replied the criteria for evidence-based was
developed over time, and is based on the scientific model. She
clarified WSIPP reviewed and summarized the findings from other
studies. They reviewed only those studies that used scientific
methodologies, and that is the basis for calling something
evidence. It's not an anecdote or case study.
11:56:08 AM
CHAIR FRENCH announced a lunch break until 1:00 p.m.
1:03:34 PM
CHAIR FRENCH reconvened the Crime Summit and introduced Karen
Loeffler.
1:04:08 PM
KAREN LOEFFLER, United States Attorney, United States Attorney's
Office (USAO), District of Alaska, stated that a cooperative
federal/state working relationship was particularly important in
Alaska because the federal agencies here were too small to work
without state partners.
The USAO has 24 assistant U.S. attorneys; 20 attorneys do
criminal work and 4 attorneys do civil work. A large part of the
workload is medical malpractice cases, but also includes
military bases and Native health service. The 3 offices in
Alaska are located in Fairbanks, Juneau, and Anchorage.
1:06:52 PM
MS. LOEFFLER explained that the USAO's role includes the
prosecution of federal statutory crimes, but the number one
mission of the Department of Justice currently is anti-
terrorism. They do criminal prosecutions of cybercrimes
throughout the country, and also work on immigration offenses.
She noted that at the request of state and local law
enforcement, Homeland Security investigations sent a team to
Southeast to do some immigration enforcements. The USAO also
prosecutes identity theft and federal program fraud. Another
large agency area is the organized crime drug enforcement task
force (OCDEFT). It's headed by the Drug Enforcement Agency, but
works with troopers and state and local police, and is designed
to deal with the large organizations that supply drugs. They
reach out to suppliers in the Lower 48 and indict members
connected with the Mexican cartels.
CHAIR FRENCH asked what anti-terrorism activity the USAO sees in
Alaska.
MS. LOEFFLER explained that the USAO works with the Alaskan
Command, state Division of Homeland Security, and the Anti-
terrorism Advisory Council of Alaska to pool resources and make
sure there is intelligence sharing. She cited a case from King
Salmon where an individual was in contact with Anwar al-Awlaki
who living in Yemen and recruiting for violent extremism.
CHAIR FRENCH asked what level of organized crime activity she
sees in Alaska.
MS. LOEFFLER responded that there are gang problems in Alaska,
and sometimes groups move up from the Lower 48 because drug
prices here are higher. The Municipality of Anchorage has one of
its prosecutors based fulltime in the U.S. Attorney's Office
working on the Safe Streets Program, which is a task force on
gang members. The USAO has also worked with Anchorage United for
Youth on an anti-gang task force trying to rehabilitate kids
that are on the fence by taking the really dangerous gang
members off the streets. Since that program was implemented
there have been over 200 gang-related prosecutions.
CHAIR FRENCH recognized that Senator McGuire and Senator Paskvan
joined the meeting.
MS. LOEFFLER cited a case that was run by the OCDEFT from Las
Vegas that resulted in 19 arrests in Alaska, mainly in the Kenai
area. Oxycodone suppliers from Las Vegas moved into Alaska
because of higher drug prices. A tip from the troopers led to
the organization in Las Vegas, and illustrates the advantages of
a cooperative state/federal working relationship.
1:14:02 PM
She cited Project Safe Childhood as an example of cooperative
efforts. It is a national organization that works closely with
state and local law enforcement entities to combat child
exploitation, including child pornography and interstate
enticement.
CHAIR FRENCH asked how jurisdiction is decided on child
pornography cases, and how the overall workload is balanced.
MS. LOEFFLER responded she didn't have the exact numbers, but
the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, which
has state and local partners, meets once a month in her office,
and calls come in from all over the state. Cases involving
interstate enticement and exploitation are more likely to be
federal.
CHAIR FRENCH remarked that some of those cases are chilling.
MS. LOEFFLER said her office has two Project Safe Childhood
prosecutors, and one of them said they are seeing more people
interested in toddlers. She noted that for child pornography
offenses the federal penalties tend to be higher than state
penalties.
CHAIR FRENCH asked what trends she was seeing in those cases.
MS. LOEFFLER responded that modern media and electronics have
made the possession of child pornography easier, and it's
difficult for law enforcement agencies to keep up. But the
federal position is that every time a pornographic image is
viewed, it's another victimization of that child.
1:19:33 PM
CHAIR FRENCH noted that several of the committee members visited
the ICAC headquarters in Anchorage and looked at some of their
cases. He wondered when that trend would turn around.
MS. LOEFFLER responded that Alaska has a tremendous cooperative
effort working on these cases.
SENATOR MCGUIRE mentioned the law passed in 2004 related to
immediate forfeiture of both hardware and software associated
with child predation, and asked if it needed to be updated or if
any other state laws needed to be changed to help people do
their jobs better.
MS. LOEFFLER said that as a U.S. attorney she is not allowed to
tell a state legislature what laws to pass.
SENATOR PASKVAN asked what legislators should be thinking about
to get ahead of child pornography in the virtual world.
MS. LOEFFLER replied her understanding of animae is that it's
not illegal under federal law because it's not a real person,
and there are First Amendment issues. She suggested that if the
Legislature is interested she could make introductions to the
child exploitation unit in Washington D.C.
CHAIR FRENCH asked her to send the information to his office and
he'll distribute it. It's worthy of a hearing unto itself.
1:24:16 PM
SENATOR COGHILL commented on the load of issues that the ICAC
task force can deal with, and asked if there were sufficient
federal resource to meet the challenge.
MS. LOEFFLER said they're under a hiring freeze right now and
might lose one of the Project Safe Childhood prosecutors but
that other prosecutors could take those cases. She added that
the standard in these cases is reasonable doubt and that relies
on computer forensics so all law enforcement needs resources in
that area.
SENATOR COGHILL commented that the state wants to be able to
match federal resources whenever possible.
1:26:12 PM
MS. LOEFFLER said sex trafficking is an issue in Alaska, and
that victimization of rural Alaskans who come to the big cities
is a particular issue. Federal experts work with municipal and
state agencies on these cases and do outreach into communities
statewide. The federal Violence Against Women Act and the Tribal
Law and Order Act give federal jurisdiction for cases involving
weapons possession by domestic violence offenders, but neither
can be used in Alaska. There is no Indian country jurisdiction
and the Ninth Circuit said Violence Against Women Act can't be
used in states like Alaska that have recklessness as an element.
The federal rural prosecutor in Alaska has jurisdiction over
firearms cases and has filed 11 indictments in the last year.
Reports regarding these crimes generally come from local law
enforcement.
1:31:02 PM
With regard to narcotics and substance abuse, the key federal
tool is the ability to work with Lower 48 organizations. The
Juneau prosecutor works closely with the Port of Seattle to
prosecute these cases, but the drugs come from the Mexican
cartels and various places in the Lower 48. When suppliers are
arrested they're brought to Alaska for prosecution. The Safe
Street Task Force partners with the Municipality of Anchorage
and does a lot of crack and violence-related prosecutions to
remove Lower 48 gang members and the more violent Alaska gang
members. When she was last briefed she was told there is a trend
toward more sophistication and organization in Lower 48
organizations. Another trend is toward increased heroin use as
the oxycodone suppliers are taken out.
CHAIR FRENCH asked how many heroin cases her office sees.
MS. LOEFFLER said her understanding is that oxycodone and heroin
highs are similar and that people turn to heroin as oxycodone
becomes more expensive. They're currently working on a Southeast
Safe Streets Task Force and the FBI just cross-deputized two
Juneau Police Department officers to work on federal cases.
1:36:04 PM
The Federal Asset Forfeiture Program works to give money back to
state and municipal law enforcement partners, generally
amounting to about 80 percent of the forfeit item. Last year
judicial forfeitures in the Alaska District amounted to $11
million, more than any other small district in the U.S. She
cited a case several years ago that involved a homicide and
taking down an individual who had been shipping in many hundreds
of kilos [of marijuana] from Canada. Assets from that
organization netted the Alaska District millions of dollars.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if that was an indication that Alaska is a
trans-shipment point.
MS. LOEFFLER replied her understanding is that the drugs were
for use in the state.
1:38:36 PM
Other joint task forces work on environmental crimes, fish and
wildlife crimes, and financial crimes. The Environmental Crimes
Task Force meets monthly and has representation from the U.S.
Department of Environmental Protection and the Alaska Department
of Environmental Conservation. Generally, a cross-designated
special assistant from the Alaska Office of the Attorney General
works with the USAO on things like the 2006 BP prosecution. The
USAO also works very closely with the state on fish and wildlife
crimes. She highlighted that illegal guiding is a particular
focus but that there is a lot of land north of the Brooks Range
and resources are thin to do resource management in that area.
The USAO is part of the national identity theft working group
and the Alaska Financial Crimes Task Force. The latter is housed
with the IRS and these federal agencies work with the Alaska
State Troopers and the Anchorage Police Department focusing
resources and looking for trends in an effort to be proactive as
opposed to reactive. This is an area where private public
partnerships are particularly important, but they are also
important in the drug arena. For example, the FBI does outreach
to pharmacies counseling people to call if something doesn't
look right.
MS. LOEFFLER concluded that federal law enforcement is very
small in Alaska and does little without working with state and
local partners.
CHAIR FRENCH thanked Ms. Loeffler and introduced Mr. Svobodny.
1:44:52 PM
RICK SVOBODNY, Acting Attorney General, Alaska Department of
Law, stated that Alaska has a unique criminal prosecution
system. The attorney general appoints district attorneys, and
state prosecutors have statewide jurisdiction but receive help
from municipalities. He noted that Anchorage and Juneau are
particularly helpful. The 13 district attorney offices statewide
have a total of 93 prosecutors, and all but the Sitka office
have at least two attorneys.
1:48:15 PM
MR. SVOBODNY said his topic was statistics and he was compelled
to caution that each agency that was presenting today and
tomorrow counts in different ways and defines terms differently.
He provided examples and said it would be very helpful if the
court system, public safety, law, and defense attorneys were to
use the same definitions.
1:53:25 PM
MR. SVOBODNY displayed a graph showing total felonies referred
each year from 2005 to 2011 and remarked that what appears to be
a flat-line is actually a decline when the 8.7 percent
population increase is factored in. Responding to a question
from Senator Wielechowski, he said the slight increase from 2009
to 2010 was probably an aberration; misdemeanor referrals also
increased in 2010.
While there's been a general decline in the crime rate in the
last few years, the "other matters" category increased. These
cases involve things like extraditions, writs of habeas corpus,
post-conviction relief, and appeals. These are handled by
specialty lawyers in the Office of Special Prosecutions &
Appeals. In the last year the Criminal Division of the
Department of Law handled 37,501 individual cases.
First and second degree murder rates in the same seven-year
period are of equal significance, and show a clear decline. The
trend for sexual [offenses] is better, but it's not what they'd
like. He clarified that there was nothing special about the
statistics starting in 2005.
1:58:11 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked, given the prevalence of sex assault in
Alaska, what has kept the state from doubling the number of sex
crime prosecutions.
MR. SVOBODNY responded that about 75-78 percent of the sexual
offense cases over that same time ended in convictions. He said
they're doing a good job reviewing and screening the cases but
not such a good job in moving them through the system. The other
issue relates to the difficulty in getting cases from rural
areas where troopers are not on scene. Mr. Rosay's evidence
shows that putting a Village Public Safety Officer in a
community substantially increases the likelihood of both
reporting and prosecution. It's the immediate availability of an
officer that makes the difference.
2:01:44 PM
ADRIENNE BACHMAN, District Attorney, 3rd Judicial District,
Criminal Division, Department of Law, said instead of giving sex
crime statistics, she would talk about an actual case. This last
year a sexual assault occurred in False Pass. The community
reported the assault, the troopers responded, and her office was
able to put together a case. The prosecuting and defense
attorneys were based in Anchorage, the judge was based in
Kodiak, and the trooper was based in King Salmon. The first
trial convened in Sand Point, but they couldn't seat a jury so
the venue was changed to Unalaska. They reconvened in Unalaska
but there was a mistrial because of a jury hung. The judge
changed the venue to Kodiak. It was a successful prosecution,
but the sheer strength of will for all the parties involved,
especially the victim and witnesses, was phenomenal. That's
what's behind some of the limitation on DOL's ability to
prosecute those kinds of cases, she said. The Fairbanks office
also serves an incredibly wide venue and trying to travel and
get witnesses into town to testify takes a very concerted
effort.
2:05:26 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what, from the criminal justice
perspective, were the top two or three things that could be done
to cut down on crime to make Alaska safer and save money.
MR. SVOBODNY said in light of the fact that resources are
declining and jail populations are increasing, it's imperative
to change the culture of domestic violence and sexual assault
just like was done with driving under the influence (DUI). "We
as prosecutors have to talk to citizens about changing that
culture, and we know we can do it because we did it with DUI,"
he said.
2:10:05 PM
CHAIR FRENCH questioned drawing the same parallel with domestic
violence. Certainly the culture has to change, but it's at a
different point, he said.
MR. SVOBODNY said prosecutors need to be smarter about sanction
provisions, about the type of placements, and about doing what
they can to see that kids attend school. The DAs in Nome,
Bethel, Barrow, and Kotzebue have all been working on truancy
issues. Kids that are in school are less likely to be victims
and they're less likely to be offenders when they grow up.
2:15:15 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI mentioned the correlation between drug and
alcohol abuse and criminal behavior, and asked if it's still
accurate that 92 percent of inmates have drug and alcohol
problems and 90 percent of arrests are drug and alcohol related.
MR. SVOBODNY deferred to Ms. Bachman.
MS. BACHMAN said her office does not keep that kind of
statistic, but anecdotally the substance abuse problems in the
state seem to drive a lot of violent and nonviolent criminal
behavior.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he'd like to see a more detailed
analysis. He asked what sort of typical crimes they see.
MS. BACHMAN explained that homicides, assaults, robbery, arson,
felony drugs, felony bootlegging, felony property crimes, felony
drunk driving, and weapons offenses. Sex crimes are also
segregated. Between 2010 and 2011 the Anchorage office
experienced a drop of 500 in the referrals in felony drug and
felony property crimes, and a bump up in sexual assaults and
robberies. The proportion of crimes has been relatively
constant; about 40 percent are crimes against a person versus 60
percent that might be characterized as nonviolent. She said she
would challenge the nonviolent characterization because it
includes felony DUI, static weapons offenses, and burglaries.
2:20:05 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked her to review the sex assault numbers for
Anchorage.
MS. BACHMAN said 52 cases of sexual abuse of a minor were
referred in 2010 and 55 cases were referred in 2011. For sexual
assault, 69 cases were referred in 2010 and 78 cases were
referred in 2011. Those referrals are primarily from a detective
division, not a patrol officer, and they drive the workload.
CHAIR FRENCH summarized Andre Rosay's work several years ago
analyzing trooper cases, and said the take-away message for him
was that there's a need to do more work upstream of the DA's
office to build stronger cases. He asked her analysis of the
strength of the cases that reach the DA's office, urban versus
rural.
MS. BACHMAN responded she wouldn't say there is an urban versus
rural disparity at the district attorney level. Her office
recognizes that there aren't as many boots on the ground in the
rural areas so they're more proactive. But the acceptance level
isn't any different for urban versus rural and the success rate
isn't any different. "Our fiscal resolve may weaken every once
in a while, but our success does not waiver," she stated.
MS. BACHMAN said Mr. Rosay's recent victimization study found
that 50 percent of Alaska women had experienced intimate partner
violence, and she would say that is not sufficient
stigmatization. If 50 percent of women respondents can say
something that profound, then there are not enough people
standing up as Mr. Svobodny suggested they should and clearly
stating that this is not acceptable. "If you see something, say
something." is a simple, profound mantra. She challenged
everyone in the room to pay attention and intervene at the base
level whenever possible to prevent the greater harms that are
happening.
2:26:13 PM
CHAIR FRENCH recognized that Representative Lynn joined the
meeting.
MR. SVOBODNY said the bottom line is that prosecutors need to be
smarter and more efficient in the screening stage of cases, and
in teaching the police about how to avoid potential problems so
that cases don't get thrown out in an evidentiary hearing. It
should be a goal for the public defender, the OPA, the DA, and
the court to have a single case management system. An electronic
discovery system should be implemented that goes to the state,
municipalities, and the defense. There should be more situations
like the justice center in Palmer where the public defender, the
DA, and the court are all located in the same area. It's time to
think about things like reciprocal discovery, two-way video
conferencing in courtrooms across the state, and the Bethel
justice project that gets the community involved.
MR. SVOBODNY said his take-home point is that most crime rates
are decreasing, and the biggest payoff in maintaining that
decline will come from keeping kids in school. Sexual assault
and domestic violence are an entirely different category. To
change those crime rates it will be necessary to change how
people think.
CHAIR FRENCH thanked Mr. Svobodny and Ms. Bachman and said he
appreciated the focus on the victimization survey. He introduced
Cynthia Franklin.
2:32:42 PM
CYNTHIA FRANKLIN, Municipal Criminal Prosecutor, Municipality of
Anchorage, said her office prosecutes between 10,000 and 12,000
misdemeanor cases per year, all of which are filed in district
court. She displayed data for 2009-2011 showing the numbers of
cases received, filed, declined, and diverted. It illustrates
that a substantial portion of cases are not filed with the
court. Until 2011 the only way to divert cases was through the
pre-trial diversion program. It was designed as a way to provide
consequences without it ending in a dismissal of charges, and is
typically offered early on, out of custody arraignments. The new
pre-charging settlement program offers some people the
opportunity to pay a fine, have a consequence, and have their
case declined rather than dismissed.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked the typical procedure when someone is
arrested for an offense that is identical under municipal and
state law.
MS. FRANKLIN replied if it's a patrol case it will be filed
under the city ordinance unless there's a particular reason to
file it under state law. For example, if there isn't an
ordinance or if there's a felony element the case would be filed
under the state.
CHAIR FRENCH said the municipality would get the case if it was
a straight up DWI that happened in the Anchorage city limits,
but if someone was hit by the car it would go to the state.
MS. FRANKLIN agreed and added that if the person had two prior
DUI convictions it would qualify as a felony DUI and therefore
go to the state.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if the penalty would be stacked if a
person was prosecuted under both a municipal and state DUI
violation.
MS. FRANKLIN responded the person couldn't be prosecuted by both
agencies for the same offense. Jurisdiction is concurrent, but
the agency that files the case would make the decision.
She said that when she started as municipal prosecutor one goal
was to reduce the number of dismissals and increase the number
of declines. It's the same theory that Mr. Svobodny spoke to; if
it's clear you can't make the case, get rid of it on the front
end and don't waste effort. She noted that in 2007 the MPO
dismissed 30 percent of the cases it filed, whereas in 2011
there was a significant difference between the decline and
dismissal rate. About the same percentage of cases were taken
out, but in a way that involved much less work on the court
system. [2011 dismissals were 18.7 percent and declines were
25.9 percent.] In 2011, 6,632 cases were filed with the court
system compared to 8,169 cases filed in 2009.
2:39:09 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if she had statistics on the cases
that go to trial, convictions, and dismissals.
MS. FRANKLIN answered yes; in 2011 about 45 cases were set for
trial and a goal for the next several years is to try more
cases.
MS. FRANKLIN highlighted some accomplishments and described the
Anchorage Domestic Violence Prevention Project (ADVPP) as the
largest success. She related that the MPO has the only dedicated
domestic violence (DV) unit in the state with three full-time
attorneys exclusively dedicated to these offenses. Typical
numbers show that about 2,500 of those 10,000 referrals are
misdemeanor DV assaults, about 2,500 are child neglect cases and
DUIs, and the remaining half are lower-level misdemeanor
offenses.
DV victim safety and bail condition enforcement has been an
incredibly successful multi-agency project involving APD, MPO,
the municipal Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS),
and Abused Women's Aid in Crisis (AWAIC). She noted that a fact
sheet and copy of the 2009 project report was distributed to
each member of the committee. The federal grant ended in 2011
and an Edward Burn grant will keep this project alive for about
another two years. Responding to a question, she offered to
follow up with information about the annual cost. This project
creates consequences for DV offenders violating bail conditions.
Prior to the project going into effect no one checked to see if
the offender was violating their bail conditions. This project
created an independent database that is administered by the
municipal prosecutor's office. Bail conditions are entered into
the database and transferred into the Absum system. An officer
in the field can see that the defendant is under conditions of
bail and call the dispatcher to find out what the conditions
are.
CHAIR FRENCH said that's been a pet project of his for a long
time and he's very pleased it is being implemented.
MS. FRANKLIN responded that it's a very valuable tool that has
made a tremendous difference in getting DV offenders to plead
out. She noted that the electronic bail conditions project
intends to use this concept and involve the court to ensure that
bail conditions are up to date and in a format that police
officers statewide can access.
2:44:30 PM
CHAIR FRENCH remarked the weak point has been data entry.
MS. FRANKLIN agreed, and added that in 2012 they hope to also
include felony DV bail conditions into the database. She
continued to highlight successes like the Project Safe
Neighborhood federal grant program. A cross-designated municipal
prosecutor works in the federal district court with an emphasis
on drug and weapons cases. Technology upgrades make it possible
to access information more quickly to see what they've done and
who they've talked to. Being able to immediately access a report
on the computer has made a tremendous difference day-to-day.
It's also created more consistency in filing decisions and
contact with victims.
2:46:11 PM
MS. FRANKLIN said there have been challenges. Late last year a
superior court judge said the municipal assault ordinance was
inadequate for counting prior offenses under the state
recidivist assault law. With help from the Anchorage DA's office
the municipal ordinance was rewritten to match the state's
(a)(4) statute. She said another challenge is substance abuse,
especially alcohol.
The Anchorage Municipal Prosecutor's Office has good working
relationships with a number of criminal justice agencies. She is
now a member of the Criminal Justice Working Group and she and
others in the office participate in inter-agency groups like the
Multi-Agency Judicial Information Consortium (MAJIC), the
Prisoner Reentry Task Force, the Anchorage Community Police
Relations Task Force (ACPRTF), the Violent Crime Working Group,
and the Anchorage Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Caucus,
Fatality Review Team, and Criminal Rules Committee.
The largest inter-agency project is the Anchorage Domestic
Violence and Prevention Project, ADVPP, which continues to be
very successful. 24/7 is a sobriety monitoring program that
other states are using. It's a pilot project now, but should
prove to be an excellent tool for application throughout the
state for things like probation and parole conditions. She
further mentioned the PSN grant with the U.S. Attorney's Office,
Crime Victims' Rights Week, and Domestic Violence Awareness
Month.
2:49:32 PM
MS. FRANKLIN said community prosecution is a model that has been
used for 15-20 years throughout the U.S. but hasn't quite
reached Alaska. The idea is that prosecutors have a
responsibility to not only prosecute cases but also to prevent
crime, solve public safety problems, and improve public
confidence in the justice system. This reaching out at the
community level often includes neighborhood justice centers and
alternative resolutions for "nuisance" type crimes. This takes
money and resources are scarce, but the MPO is ramping up
efforts so it will be ready when someone takes on this cause and
sets up neighborhood justice centers.
2:51:18 PM
MS. FRANKLIN highlighted the following things the Legislature
can do to help:
· Continue funding preference to inter-agency or multi-
disciplinary projects. These are the ones where agencies
are talking to each other and bringing their resources to
bear. They stick out as successes.
· Consider funding the ADVPP program to avoid a gap in
services to victims and delay in the Anchorage bail
conditions project. Without the program a lot of Anchorage
DV offenders will not be held accountable.
· Fund other programs, such as 24/7, that serve as tools
across agency boundaries.
CHAIR FRENCH commented that it's amazing how much the
municipality reaches and cooperates with both state and federal
agencies; it's a good model.
CHAIR FRENCH thanked Ms. Franklin and introduced Commissioner
Masters and Colonel Mallard.
2:53:37 PM
JOSEPH MASTERS, Commissioner, Department of Public Safety (DPS),
stated that DPS's primary focus the last few years has been
twofold. First is continued improvement and delivery of service
in rural Alaska, filling trooper positions and opening trooper
posts as well as VPSO positions in rural Alaska. Second is the
commitment to combat the scourge of domestic violence and sexual
assault in the state of Alaska.
He said he would start with the statewide perspective with
regard to the Alaska UCR reporting on the crime picture in
Alaska. He would discuss the statewide trends and Colonel
Mallard would discuss specific AST case activity in 2011 and
then they'd both talk about successes and challenges.
COMMISSIONER MASTERS said he was pleased to hear about the
collaboration and partnerships among different entities within
the state because it's unique nationwide. He noted that Mr.
Svobodny commented on the simplicity of the justice system in
the state, and said the law enforcement system also has
simplicity because there are no sheriffs.
He explained that in 2010, 35 of 50 state agencies submitted
crime data to DPS. These statistics, representing 99.4 percent
of the population, were compiled into an Alaska UCR report and
sent to the FBI for inclusion in the federal UCR report. The
index offenses that are tracked are categorized as violent
crimes and property crimes. He opined that Alaska data is a
little more accurate than the FBI data because it includes data
that is reported and verified. The state and federal timelines
are also a little different. Responding to a question, he
clarified that the "Alaska Crime Index Offense Summary" shows
the total UCR reports statewide for 2001 through 2010.
CHAIR FRENCH observed that the declining rate correlates with
the ISER report and other signals.
COMMISSIONER MASTERS agreed that the picture looks good when
data from both violent and property crimes are combined, but
it's a little different when they're separated. He noted that
the "Alaska Crime Rate Summary" shows the same information as
the previous chart, adjusted for population. The per capita
information shows a declining trend.
COMMISSIONER MASTERS said the violent crime offense summary for
murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and robbery shows an
increasing trend in reported offenses with the largest drivers
being aggravated assault and robbery. The murder rate has been
declining, and the overall rate for forcible rape appears
relatively flat until the last couple of years. He said it will
take a few more years of data to know whether or not this recent
increase is a trend, but an important clarification is that this
does not mean that there is an increase in forcible rape in
Alaska; it means that there is an increase in reporting of
forcible rape in Alaska.
CHAIR FRENCH said that's a very important distinction. With the
crimes of murder, assault and robbery, the assumption is that
the victimization rate and reporting rate are very close. But
rape is a particularly difficult crime to get a handle on
because the number of cases reported is vastly different than
the number of rapes that actually happen. The Legislature became
aware of this several years ago through the Victimization
Survey. He explained that it was basically a sophisticated poll.
Individuals called individuals at home and asked if they or
anyone in the house had been raped. The numbers were shocking
and illustrated the gap between UCR reports to the police and
actual victimization rates.
3:03:10 PM
COMISSIONER MASTERS said there's been a huge focus on combatting
sexual assault and domestic violence with the Governor's
initiative and the efforts of the Legislature in the last
several years. There have also been increased services available
to victims for reporting, increased law enforcement for
investigation of sex offense crimes, increased resources in
rural Alaska in the form of troopers and VPSOs. The expectation
is that reporting will increase, particularly as victims become
aware that their report will be taken seriously and
investigated. Ideally, he said, subsequent Alaska victimization
survey numbers will show a decline.
SENATOR COGHILL asked if it's a barrier that Alaska laws are
different than federal laws for sexual assault cases.
COMISSIONER MASTERS replied some federal laws can be good tools
and some state laws can be good tools, and because they work
differently doesn't mean that the state tools don't work. Some
improvements can be made, but it will take a collaborative
effort, moving carefully on changes and adaptations to
jurisdiction. He cited the current statutes on promoting
prostitution as an example of differing state/federal laws; and
pointed out that there are not a lot of federal laws that don't
have some corresponding type of state law that can be used to
prosecute an individual.
SENATOR COGHILL mentioned scarce resources and asked about
collaborative efforts to gather evidence and get it to the right
place in a timely manner.
COMISSIONER MASTERS replied there are a number of barriers to
effectively gaining evidence in a crime like getting testimony
from victims, identifying and interviewing witnesses, conducting
a thorough scene investigation, having people that are available
to do an investigation, having equipment and property and
trained techniques. Some of the studies that the UAA Justice
Center has done for the Alaska State Troopers and DPS have been
outstanding in helping DPS identify focus areas. One that came
out of the 2003-2004 survey identified VPSO training and
equipment to gather evidence. All indications are that there is
a tremendous value in communities having a VPSO, a village
police officer (VPO), or a tribal police officer (TPO). Mr.
Rosay's studies found that when a case is reported to a
paraprofessional, the acceptance for prosecution increases 3.5
times. That's a huge increase.
CHAIR FRENCH remarked that as important as troopers are in
building cases, someone who is considerably lower on the scale
in terms of training, experience, and salary can make a
tremendous difference.
COMISSIONER MASTERS agreed, and emphasized the importance of
getting all the entities to collaborate. He mentioned recent
instances in rural Alaska where specialized troopers, patrol
troopers, U.S. Marshals, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA),
federal prosecutors and state prosecutors worked closely on
alcohol and drug interdiction, weapons offenses, and the Sex
Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) requirements.
He noted that 74 arrests resulted from these collaborative
efforts last year.
3:13:30 PM
Statistics for 2001 through 2010 demonstrate that these property
crimes are driving the overall declining crime rates. Burglary,
larceny-theft, and auto theft all show a significant downward
trend both in the volume of crime and the per capita rate.
For 2010, the ratio of violent crime versus property crime was
almost 4:1. The vast majority {74 percent] of reported violent
crime under the UCR definitions is in the area of aggravated
assault.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if aggravated assault was roughly equivalent
to felony assault.
COMISSIONER MASTERS answered yes. He displayed a similar
breakdown of property crime statistics for 2010 that showed that
larceny-theft was the big driver [77 percent] for these crimes
under the UCR definitions. He noted that the Alaska State
Trooper data that Colonel Mallard would present was more current
and was not yet in the Alaska UCR report. He further noted that
the U.S. Department of Justice was in the process of changing
the definition of "forcible rape" to a sexual assault
definition, which was more in line with the definition in state
statute.
CHAIR FRENCH said it removes the force element.
COMISSIONER MASTERS said yes, and added that this will
drastically change the way sexual assaults are reported. The new
definition will give a broader, more complete sexual assault
picture, but the DOJ won't be able to accept data under the new
definition for about a year, which means it will take yet
another year for the data to show in the new format.
3:16:57 PM
COLONEL KEITH MALLARD, Director, Alaska State Troopers,
Department of Public Safety, displayed sexual assault and sexual
abuse of a minor case activity data that showed a declining
trend for 2007 through 2011. For 2011 the areas that had the
highest case activity were Mat-Su, Fairbanks North Star, Bethel,
Kenai Peninsula and Wade Hampton. Although Mat-Su is the most
active in terms of numbers of cases, the per capita activity is
far higher in the Bethel area.
The top five areas for sexual assault in 2011 per 100,000
residents are Wade Hampton, Lake & Peninsula, Dillingham, Nome,
and Bethel. Responding to a question, he explained that the Wade
Hampton [Census Area] is in the Yukon River drainage and
includes communities in the area of Hooper Bay, Mountain Village
and Emmonak. The Bethel designation includes all the villages in
the Kuskoquim River drainage.
3:18:46 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked how he would explain that the rate for Wade
Hampton was almost twice the rate for Bethel or Nome.
COLONEL MALLARD replied it could be related to better reporting.
CHAIR FRENCH observed that overlaying a victimization survey
would show where reporting approaches the actual victimization
rate and where it does not.
COLONEL MALLARD agreed. Continuing, he displayed 2011 data
showing that the top five areas per capita for sexual abuse of a
minor were Wade Hampton, Bethel, Dillingham, Nome and Yukon-
Koyukuk.
The total reported domestic violence cases for 2007 through 2011
show increases in 2010 and 2011. This could be attributed to
increased reporting due to increased awareness and more
paraprofessional law enforcement in communities. For 2011 the
top five areas for domestic violence were Mat-Su, Fairbanks
North Star, Kenai Peninsula, Bethel and Wade Hampton. Per capita
the top five areas in 2011 for domestic violence were Wade
Hampton, Yukon-Koyukuk, Bethel, Northwest Arctic and Lake &
Peninsula.
3:21:04 PM
COMISSIONER MASTERS said DPS successes include more law
enforcement in more communities. In 2008 there were 46 VPSOs in
rural Alaska and as of January 1, 2012 there were 96. The budget
will accommodate 101 VPSOs in FY12, and the Governor's request
is for an additional 15 VPSOs for FY13.
CHAIR FRENCH said he was on the VPSO Task Force and is very
pleased about the outcome.
COMISSIONER MASTERS highlighted additional successes:
· The online felony reporting system for law enforcement was
implemented, but there were challenges getting the
reporting done both timely and consistently. A solution
was to automate the system and hopefully this will make
reporting less burdensome for local law enforcement.
· The statewide victimization survey has been completed and
the next phase will focus on surveying regional areas.
Initially the target areas will be in the project areas
for prevention funding like Dillingham, Bethel and Kodiak.
· The new crime lab is scheduled to be complete on June 2,
2012, on schedule and on budget. Efforts to address
current backlogs have also been successful.
3:25:46 PM
CHAIR FRENCH called a brief at ease.
3:37:12 PM
CHAIR FRENCH reconvened the meeting and introduced Chief Greg
Browning.
3:38:29 PM
GREG BROWNING, Chief of Police, Juneau Police Department (JPD),
and Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police (Chief's
Association), said he first wanted to talk about the Police
Crisis Intervention Specialist Program that JPD implemented.
Using federal funds initially, a trained professional social
worker was hired to work directly and immediately with victims
of domestic violence and sexual assault in an effort to break
the cycle of violence. The program has been very successful, but
the funding is running out. The City and Borough of Juneau
submitted a request to the state to fund the $111,000 per year
program for one more year.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if that request was in the Governor's budget.
CHIEF BROWNING replied it's brand new.
CHAIR FRENCH said it will probably be taken up in the Public
Safety subcommittee.
3:40:37 PM
CHIEF BROWNING said the first item he was asked to talk about is
the Alaska Law Enforcement Information Sharing System (ALEISS).
It was started in 2002 by the Chief's Association in partnership
with the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology
Center, and is a mechanism by which departments share records
and management data electronically. It was federally funded in
the wake of September 11, 2011 in recognition of the lack of
communication at the federal, state and local level. The grant
funding ended several years ago and the Alaska State Troopers
assumed maintenance of the server, but costs continue and
funding is needed.
The Chiefs Association also supports increased funding for
Department of Law prosecutors. The staff is overworked, cases
are more complex, and having additional prosecutors would be
helpful.
CHAIR FRENCH said he appreciates the positive phrase that DOL
needs more prosecutors in order to handle more cases.
CHIEF BROWNING said he'd also like to suggest putting DA
investigators in the prosecutor offices because without them the
police departments become the default investigators and this
puts pressure on the police staff.
The Chiefs Association would also like to express opposition to
the Act to improve the accuracy of eye witness identifications
that the Innocence Project is proposing. Instead of a state law
they would suggest working through an accredited agency to
follow the guidelines in the bill for line ups and show ups.
CHAIR FRENCH said he opened a dialog on the subject with Colonel
Mallard; it's an area he wants to improve but he knows that law
enforcement has to buy in at a fundamental level.
CHIEF BROWNING opined that the current system isn't necessarily
broken. A detective will typically follow directions from the
DA's office with regard to line ups or show ups, and it comes
out during the trial it's not done correctly.
CHAIR FRENCH responded that that's the hope. He continued that
DNA evidence was addressed by giving folks who had been
convicted an opportunity to get their DNA evidence retested, but
the solution isn't as straight forward for eye witness
identifications because those are less susceptible to scientific
analysis.
CHIEF BROWNING said he also wanted to address House Bill 171,
misdemeanor arrest. That bill was amended last session but it
isn't a practical solution and probably wouldn't be used by the
police. The Chief's Association do not support the amendment.
In conclusion Chief Browning said that most of the chiefs in the
state are a member of the nationwide organization "Fight Crime
Invest in Kids" whose goal is to show that good early childhood
education reduces crime. A lot of the chiefs believe that it's
the most effective way to reduce crime years from now.
CHAIR FRENCH thanked Chief Browning and introduced Chief Mark
Mew.
3:51:03 PM
MARK MEW, Chief of Police, Anchorage Police Department,
Municipality of Anchorage, said there will be some interesting
parallels and some interesting deviations from the data that was
presented earlier. He displayed 24 years of APD UCR Part I crime
data and explained that crimes were shown in the bar chart and
the dotted line represented raw population numbers for
Anchorage. Since 1993 the crime trend declined as the population
increased. He noted that 1989 appears to have been the lowest
crime year, but the picture changes with the next chart that
shows per capita rates. [UCR Part I crimes per 100,000
population in the Metropolitan Police Service Area of Anchorage]
CHAIR FRENCH noted that on a per capita basis 1994 was the
highest crime year. There were 8,483 crimes per 100,000
population.
CHIEF MEW agreed and added that crime has been declining since
then.
He displayed a bar chart showing forcible rape rates for 2006
through 2010. The line is flat but the numbers are unacceptably
high, varying from 248 to 282. In 2010 there were 264 cases, and
that might bump up in 2011.
CHAIR FRENCH asked how the forcible rape rates in Anchorage
compare to rates in other cities with populations of about
300,000.
CHIEF MEW replied Anchorage is on the high end.
The aggravated assault rates for 2006 through 2010 are up and
down, but these are the crimes that are driving the high violent
crime rate that Forbes reported on Anchorage recently. Part of
the reason for the recent increase is that APD for the last year
has been charging as felonies certain kinds of assaults that
used to be charged as misdemeanors. For example, grabbing
someone by the throat is charged as a felony and counted as an
aggravated assault. This is very good for domestic violence
victims, but the higher statistic brings criticism.
3:56:20 PM
CHAIR FRENCH said that's a good thing to do because grabbing
someone by the throat is high on the so called lethality index.
CHIEF MEW summarized that homicides, forcible rapes, robberies,
and aggravated assaults are functions of the violent crime rate,
and it's the forcible rape and aggravated assault numbers that
make the rate seem high compared to other jurisdictions. Forbes
Magazine recently listed Anchorage as the fifth worst city in
the U.S. for violent crime, but the numbers reported for
Anchorage also included numbers for the entire Mat-Su Valley so
that skewed the data. Nevertheless, domestic violence and sexual
assault numbers are high and APD is committed to do something
about that.
3:58:54 PM
CHIEF MEW pointed out that the numbers for both robbery and
burglary dropped drastically in 2010. One possible reason is
that in early 2010 the metro drug unit was disbanded and the
mission was given to the vice unit and special assignment unit.
These units do a lot of quick-buy busts and arrest a lot more
street-level dealers. In 2008 and 2009 53 defendants were
arrested on felony drug charges. After the mission was
transferred, the vice and special assignment units made 418
arrests in the next 18 months. That seems to have cut down on
robberies and burglaries.
CHAIR FRENCH said that's interesting because it's contrary to
what the public said in response to his question about what the
number one crime problem in Alaska is and what should be done
about it. About one-third of the respondents said to stop the
war on drugs because it isn't working. He asked Chief Mew to
discuss that and provide his observations.
CHIEF MEW responded that anecdotally the public wants the police
to get rid of the street dealers. There's a good balance now
between quick arrests and long-term cases. Progress looks good
but time will tell if the trend continues.
CHAIR FRENCH asked what the typical case is because his
impression was that the public was talking about marijuana when
they said to stop the war on drugs.
CHIEF MEW said his sense is that most of these cases are street
drugs, not marijuana. A high percentage of the cases are
Oxycontin, heroin, and meth. The fact that two officers have
been shot in the last two years has focused effort on the street
dealers.
4:04:36 PM
He displayed a chart showing alcohol-related traffic fatalities
and numbers of OUI or drunk driving arrests for 2002 through
2011. In 2002 there were 20 OUI related traffic fatalities and
in 2011 there were 3. The APD recently launched the "0 for 12"
campaign with the goal that nobody gets killed next year in an
alcohol related collision in Anchorage.
CHAIR FRENCH remarked that's a stunning drop. These are horrific
cases that make the news and drive policy.
CHIEF MEW said he credits his predecessors who made OUI arrests
a priority. APD is maintaining the pressure to cut down on abuse
of alcohol and would like help from the Legislature because it's
generating some heat from the [alcohol] industry. This focused
effort is reducing OUI related traffic fatalities and doesn't
hurt in the sexual assault and domestic violence area. Alcohol
is a common thread in these cases.
SENATOR MCGUIRE said it's taken some people by surprise that APD
is going into establishments and asking people not to over drink
in bars and restaurants. This is a change in culture and the
broad policy point is that you don't want people to over consume
generally because of what it leads to in terms of domestic
violence and the assault record that lists Anchorage as the
fifth most dangerous city on the Forbes list. She asked for his
thoughts.
CHIEF MEW acknowledged that some people are outraged that they
aren't able to get "wasted" in a bar, but the fact is that a lot
of alcohol is served in downtown Anchorage and a lot of sexual
assaults happen in downtown Anchorage or result from a meeting
in downtown Anchorage between the perpetrator and victim.
Addressing over service downtown makes sense and that's where
APD is focusing pressure. Everyone wants to have a good time,
but lives are destroyed when things go too far. This is an
effort to get a handle on that.
4:10:34 PM
CHIEF MEW displayed a chart showing APD staffing levels and
explained that recruit officers are counted separately. They're
on the books but they're not holding down a patrol area or
working in a detective unit. The numbers of full duty officers
have dropped steadily since early 2010, reflecting the realities
of the economy. During this time the mayor asked for a
deployment study [PERF report] and APD has been trying to
implement community policing, but that depends on having 390
patrol officers working on the street. As of August 2011 there
were enough officers on the books, but [29 were recruit
officers] so there aren't 390 officers on the street. Since then
they lost one recruit. He said the problem is that APD typically
loses 20 people per year through attrition, and a little more
than half the recruits do not make it through field training. He
predicted that the numbers would go up a little this year but
that APD would probably have to fund an academy every year for a
while to get to the optimal number. It's unclear the extent to
which the Anchorage voters will support that.
4:14:10 PM
CHIEF MEW briefly displayed optimal staffing data including
patrol time activities and obligated versus unobligated time.
CHAIR FRENCH said the last time he did a ride along he was
stunned at the speed the officer was expected to work. The calls
were back-to-back and the situations were fairly complex. He
asked for an explanation of obligated time versus unobligated
time.
CHIEF MEW explained that in 2010, 74 percent of an officer's
time was obligated: 46 percent for service calls; 15 percent for
self-initiated activity like traffic violations; and 13 percent
for administrative activity like going to court or the range.
Unobligated time accounted for 26 percent. If the department was
properly geared up, it could do community policing during that
time. That would be 26 percent of the night that APD could work
with partner agencies to solve a previously identified problem
that was resulting in ongoing calls for service.
CHAIR FRENCH observed that the unobligated time isn't free time.
CHIEF MEW agreed; the idea is for the officer to work smart
fixing problems that might crop up in the future. For example,
if a particular location is eliciting 100 calls a year, the idea
is to make a project out of that so there are zero calls.
However, the PERF report indicated that for community policing
to be effective the time allocation needs to be 30 percent or
more, not just 26 percent. This will take additional staffing
and redeployment within the department and efforts are underway
to implement those changes.
4:16:31 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he'd like to hear more about community
policing, and was interested if there was any talk about
bringing back the zero tolerance policy. It was particularly
effective in the Mountain View neighborhood.
CHIEF MEW said APD has done different forms of community
policing over the years, and the current mayor has charged him
to do more. The basic idea of community policing is that there's
a suspect-victim-location triangle that makes up a calls-for-
service crime problem. Removing one piece of the triangle will
break the problem. The Mountain View zero tolerance program was
an enforcement detail that was grant funded through Weed and
Seed. It was very effective at stopping the crime problem by
removing the suspect piece, but it was expensive. That funding
has run out and it's unclear if there will be replacement money.
He noted that last year APD self-funded some zero tolerance
efforts because they believe in the program.
CHAIR FRENCH asked what the Legislature can do to help APD.
CHIEF MEW highlighted the need for continued funding for both
the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) and the Anchorage
Domestic Violence Prevention Project (ADVPP). These very
effective programs are always in a tenuous position, and are
very helpful to APD in the long term.
CHAIR FRENCH responded that this committee is very supportive
and will help carry the water.
CHIEF MEW said APD could also use help in other areas.
· Support for the Alaska Land Mobile Radio and the Anchorage
Wide Area Radio Network (AWARN) to maintain communication
between agencies.
· Felony criminalization of bath salts and similar synthetic
drugs.
· Help with housing for the homeless population in
Anchorage.
CHIEF MEW also urged the Legislature to help partner agencies on
the prevention side. "I don't think that we're going to arrest
our way out of some of these problems," he stated. Education is
a key component in attaining success.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if [Karluk Manor] in Fairview, which
was opened for homeless chronic inebriates, had cut down on
police calls.
CHIEF MEW replied it's too early to answer, but the numbers
appear to be going in the right direction. The [Institute] for
Circumpolar Health is conducting a controlled study and those
findings will tell whether or not there is measurable success.
CHAIR FRENCH thanked Chief Mew and introduced Sergeant
Ketterling.
4:24:56 PM
LANCE KETTERLING, Detective Sergeant, Palmer Police Department,
said he was struck with how often agency interests coincide, and
that the criminal justice system is so symbiotic it can have a
ripple effect between one agency and another. A small difference
at the DA's office can effect major changes for a department the
size of Palmer. That being said, the trends in the Mat-Su Valley
are quite different than in other areas in the state, he said.
In order to highlight those differences, some background
information on Palmer is in order, he said.
He reported that the population in the Mat-Su Valley is
approaching 90,000, and is probably the second-largest borough
in the state. According to the U.S. Census, Palmer experienced a
31 percent growth rate in the last ten years, only exceeded by
Wasilla that had a 43 percent growth rate. This population
increase has resulted in something of a reversal of the crime
trends mentioned in earlier presentations. Both violent and
nonviolent crimes as well as medical calls have increased across
the board.
SERGEANT KETTERLING said the per capita extrapolation shows that
sexual assaults increased 46 percent, burglaries increased 30
percent, assaults increased 56 percent, and simple thefts
increased 46 percent. These numbers are of great concern to the
citizens of Palmer.
CHAIR FRENCH asked how much the department had grown over the
last ten years.
SERGEANT KETTERLING replied the increases haven't kept up with
the growth rate, but they're happy with the support they've
gotten from the city. PPD got one new position in 2006 and
another just recently through a Department of Justice COPS grant
that provides 100 percent funding for one more officer for three
years. The city appropriated funds to maintain that position for
one additional year.
CHAIR FRENCH observed that the population has gone up 30 percent
while the force grew by 5 percent or 10 percent.
SERGEANT KETTERLING said the population of Palmer is about 6,000
and the total sworn force is 16 so the two positions even things
out somewhat.
He stated that the DOJ COPS Hiring Program grant can certainly
be counted among the recent successes, but first and foremost
the success in Palmer stems from the exceptional culture within
the department. The officers are hard-working and supportive,
and the dispatch center is a model. The citizens enjoy low
response times, thorough investigations, and a department that
has a good sense of harmony and good moral.
4:29:27 PM
Community policing successes include:
· Neighborhood watch meetings, which have increased awareness
in the community.
· The Palmer Business Protection and Education program, which
has helped keep burglaries on par with the growth rate.
· Project Help is a coordinated effort with the senior center
that offers a life-alert system to seniors who live locally
as well as remote. There are 69 life alerts in use and
people have been saved.
There have also been challenges. He said he could echo what the
U.S. Attorney said about the problems of child pornography and
sexual abuse of a minor cases. When looking at the increase in
sexual assaults and sexual abuse cases in Palmer, by far the
highest increases are in sexual abuse of a minor cases. That
goes hand-in-hand with the Child Advocacy Center, which is in
need of additional funding.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if there was a Crimes Against Children Unit
(CACU) in the Mat-Su Valley.
SERGEANT KETTERLING answered yes; it's called the Children's
Place and located in Wasilla. Last year 233 children were seen;
89 percent were sexual abuse victims, 10 percent were child
physical assaults, and the remaining 1 percent were cases of
neglect. He noted that child abuse cases represent a significant
part of the major crimes workload. These cases are front-loading
the criminal justice system because it's not just Palmer that's
experiencing these issues. The district attorney offices attack
these cases with great gusto, but they're getting thin on the
ground.
4:32:26 PM
He said the educational aspect that was covered this morning was
food for thought because there is quite a bit of recidivism in
the Mat-Su Valley. PPD officers can cite specific examples of
individuals whose arrests started at age 10 and continued into
adulthood when they finally did something that took them off the
street for the long haul. He said he wouldn't go so far as to
say that there's an absence of concern for juveniles, but
sometimes it seems very close.
CHAIR FRENCH remarked that he sometimes wonders if the current
process doesn't slowly ease people into the criminal justice
system.
SERGEANT KETTERLING said the juvenile system could certainly use
some teeth, and he firmly believes that education and
rehabilitation for offenders is a positive thing to do.
CHAIR FRENCH asked what the relationship is between the Palmer,
Anchorage and Wasilla police departments, because defendants are
sure to move between those jurisdictions.
SERGEANT KETTERLING replied PPD works closely with Wasilla, the
Alaska State Troopers, the Anchorage Police Department and the
federal agencies.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if PPD accessed information and police
reports through the Alaska Law Enforcement Information Sharing
System (ALEISS).
SERGEANT KETTERLING replied they do use the system, but
generally they call and get the information first hand.
4:34:58 PM
SERGEANT KETTERLING said the Legislature can help PPD with the
following:
· The Children's Place CACU needs additional staffing and
funding.
· Criminalization of bath salts and similar designer drugs on
a state level.
· The Mat-Su Valley needs a SART team. It's difficult for a
victim to have to drive into Anchorage for a forensic exam.
He agreed with Senator French that if more communities had
forensic nurses it would be possible to build more and
stronger cases.
CHAIR FRENCH thanked Sergeant Ketterling and introduced Dennis
Johnson
4:36:55 PM
DENNIS JOHNSON, Program Director, Alaska Pretrial Services
(APS), stated that APS is a defendant-funded, third-party, pre-
trial custodial option. He explained that he developed this
business as a result of a personal loss. A defendant who was out
on bail and not supervised shot and killed his cousin and tried
to shoot him as well. This happened in the Dimond Center in
Anchorage. After that he wanted to know why that defendant
wasn't supervised and why it was just a misdemeanor for that
third-party custodian to violate their duty.
In an effort to move forward with his life, he developed a
program that provides effective electronic compliance monitoring
of defendants in a pre-trial setting. The device is manufactured
by SecureAlert, Inc., the same company that provides monitoring
devices for offenders who must register under the Sex Offender
Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). It provides sight and
sound 24/7 monitoring and has been vetted by Congress.
MR. JOHNSON explained that he can call the device anytime to
talk with the defendant and it provides 24/7 GPS monitoring. He
listed the agencies nationwide that are using this monitoring,
primarily juvenile justice. In Alaska they've worked with the
District Attorney's Office, Anchorage Probation, and next week
they're scheduled to work with APD.
4:43:02 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked what capabilities he had for monitoring a
person's behavior when they were wearing the ankle device.
MR. JOHNSON related that for drug cases they require a physical
third-party as well as the monitoring device. He can tell if a
defendant is coming and going, departing their residence, or
entering an exclusion zone, but without a compliance officer
doing random checks he can't tell if the defendant is still
distributing narcotics. He said that's where they depend on the
current bail law with the physical third-party remedy.
MR. JOHNSON displayed a satellite photo of Alaska and pointed
out the monitoring devices currently in use, including two on
the North Slope. Those defendants were charged with DUI and
assigned to the program by the court. They're able to continue
to work and are under 24/7 electronic supervision. They don't
necessarily need to be incarcerated before their trials. He
pointed to another example where the defendant is out of state
attending a funeral. The monitor showed his location every 60
seconds as he moved through the SeaTac terminal and later on
north of Seattle.
4:47:25 PM
MR. JOHNSON said there has been some opposition to their victim
notification program, and pointed out that APS is paid by the
defendant but APS does not work for the defendant. Their goal is
to work for victim safety, community safety, and supervision
while on bail. He displayed a satellite map of Anchorage with
colored dot location markers and explained that that each of the
dots represents a different defendant, and the large red areas
show exclusion zones. He explained the process for notifying a
victim or their family when the defendant is on legitimate
business and transits close to the exclusion area. APS keeps
everyone informed and works on travel routes to avoid any
incidental contact. They also have a system for domestic
violence cases where the victim has a pager. Should there be an
outright violation, APS coordinates with law enforcement and
routes the victim out of the area. He described several cases.
MR. JOHNSON explained that APS also has a facial recognition
alcohol monitoring program that works for people released for
DUIs.
CHAIR FRENCH asked what the monitoring costs per day.
MR. JOHNSON replied it costs $520 per month for non-alcohol
related cases and $720 per month for alcohol related cases.
4:55:47 PM
SENATOR MCGUIRE asked how to get the cost down.
MR. JOHNSON replied he didn't know, but was open to suggestions.
He highlighted that the average cost of incarceration is $134.90
per day and APS currently operates at 62.5 percent less than
that. This has been a cost savings to Alaskans of $18,751 per
day based on the 139 defendants currently assigned to APS for
supervision. Average pre-trial incarceration is 60 days and if
those defendants were in custody it would have cost the state
$1,125,066.
MR. JOHNSON cited the following statistics:
· To date APS has provided supervision for 236 pre-trail
defendants.
· Of the 236 defendants, APS remanded 41 for violations of
bail conditions.
· 19 of the defendants received additional felony charges as
a result of the APS violation remands.
· 5 of the violations were threats to domestic violence
victims or involved in no contact order violations.
· 4 defendants attempted to tamper with the device and were
remanded to DOC with their performance bail revoked.
· 18 defendants were remanded for alcohol violations while
out on DUI/OUI charges.
· 56 defendants completed pre-trial supervision successfully.
MR. JOHNSON said the foregoing was accomplished with four
compliance officers in the Anchorage office, two compliance
officers in the Fairbanks office, two compliance officers in the
Kenai office and three full-time administrative assistants.
Three of the personnel are full-time volunteers.
CHAIR FRENCH commented that this is very much about the future;
it has a place in the system.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI remarked that Mr. Johnson turned his
personal tragedy into a positive effort.
MR. JOHNSON said the door is open to any agency that would like
a tour.
CHAIR FRENCH thanked the participants.
5:03:51 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair French adjourned the Senate Judiciary Standing Committee
hearing at 5:03 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Statistics on Crime in Urban Alaska, 2001-2010.pdf |
SJUD 1/24/2012 10:30:00 AM |
Statistics on Crime in Urban Alaska, 2001-2010 |
| 2012 Crime Summit Agenda.pdf |
SJUD 1/24/2012 10:30:00 AM |
Crime Summit Agenda |
| Annie Pennucci Presentation.pdf |
SJUD 1/24/2012 10:30:00 AM |
More Education, Less Crime: Research Evidence and Policy Implications - Annie Pennucci |
| DPS Presentation.pdf |
SJUD 1/24/2012 10:30:00 AM |
Department of Public Safety Presentation |
| APD Presentation.pdf |
SJUD 1/24/2012 10:30:00 AM |
Anchorage Police Department Presentation |
| Alaska Pretrial Services Presentation.pdf |
SJUD 1/24/2012 10:30:00 AM |
Alaska Pretrial Services Presentation |