Legislature(2015 - 2016)BUTROVICH 205
03/27/2015 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
Note: the audio ![]()
and video ![]()
recordings are distinct records and are obtained from different sources. As such there may be key differences between the two. The audio recordings are captured by our records offices as the official record of the meeting and will have more accurate timestamps. Use the icons to switch between them.
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Legislative Hearing: Crime Rates in Anchorage | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
March 27, 2015
1:34 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Lesil McGuire, Chair
Senator John Coghill, Vice Chair
Senator Mia Costello
Senator Peter Micciche
Senator Bill Wielechowski
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
LEGISLATIVE HEARING: CRIME RATES IN ANCHORAGE
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
DETECTIVE JEFF BELL, Vice President
Anchorage Police Department Employees Association (APDEA)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the discussion of crime
rates in Anchorage.
GARY FOLGER, Commissioner
Department of Public Safety (DPS)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided an overview of crime in Anchorage
and discussed staffing cuts.
JAKE METCALFE, Executive Director
Public Safety Employees Association
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided PSEA's perspective of the crime
rates in Anchorage.
DAN SULLIVAN, Mayor
Municipality of Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided his perspective of crime rates in
Anchorage.
CHRISTOPHER ALLRIDGE, Correctional Officer II
Anchorage Correctional Complex
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided his perspective of the gang
population in the Anchorage Correctional Complex.
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Senator Johnny Ellis
Senator Berta Gardner
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:34:56 PM
CHAIR LESIL MCGUIRE called the Senate Judiciary Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:34 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Costello, Wielechowski, and Chair McGuire.
Senators Ellis and Gardner also attended the meeting.
^Legislative Hearing: Crime Rates in Anchorage
Legislative Hearing: Crime Rates in Anchorage
CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the business before the committee would
be a discussion of the recent spike in crime rates in Anchorage.
She reviewed the agenda.
1:36:09 PM
SENATOR JOHNNY ELLIS thanked the chair for holding the hearings.
He clarified that legislators are concerned about crime in all
areas of the state, but there has been an uptick in crime
recently in Anchorage and they wanted an opportunity to talk
with those who work with this every day. He opined that what
comes out of this discussion could be instructive for the entire
state.
CHAIR MCGUIRE agreed that it is unusual to focus on just one
area, but it is deeply concerning that crime rates in Anchorage
are doubling. She advised that the focus will be to look at ways
to partner and help the community lower these rates.
1:37:31 PM
DETECTIVE JEFF BELL, Vice President, Anchorage Police Department
Employees Association (APDEA), shared that he's been in law
enforcement for 19 years, all of which has been with the
Anchorage Police Department. For the first 9-10 years he worked
the swing shift, almost exclusively in the Spenard area. He saw
a lot of activity related to drugs and prostitution related to
drugs and became interested in those types of investigations. He
was on the APD SWAT team for about 13 years and left about a
year ago. Prior to becoming a detective, he worked in the
special assignment unit investigating street-level drugs, high-
risk search warrants, high-risk arrest warrants, and other
problem-of-the-day activities. Officers in that unit are highly
trained and skilled as SWAT officers and are moved around the
city as needed to combat those crimes. Responding to a question,
he said his duties did not cover sex trafficking.
DETECTIVE BELL related that for three of the years he was in the
special assignment unit he also was a safe streets task force
officer at the FBI working gang crime, violent crimes, and drug
investigations. He is currently a crimes against children
detective investigating sex and abuse crimes against children
age 15 and under.
1:40:22 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE joined the committee.
DETECTIVE BELL stated that his goal today was to give the
perspective of a person who worked in the trenches the last five
or six years when APD experienced a fairly drastic change in
policing philosophy. Responding to a request to elaborate, he
explained that as the numbers at APD dwindled, people in the
street-level drug unit, the special assignment unit, and the
vice unit were moved to other areas. In 2010 the vice unit had
17 people, the special assignment/gang unit had 18 people. Today
the vice unit has 5 people and the special assignment unit has 7
people. He summarized the responsibilities of the two units. The
vice unit does high-level multi buys and the special assignment
unit generally does one-time buy busts. Because of the staff
reductions, they've gone from very proactive drug enforcement to
a very reactive department that only responds to calls from the
public.
1:43:43 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what proactive drug enforcement
means, why it's effective, and how it's been diminished by staff
reductions.
DETECTIVE BELL explained that drug reports generally are officer
initiated (OI) activities, not from citizens. Drug
investigations typically were done by police officers after
stopping a car or using informants to purchase drugs or "jump
outs." Officers would sit in undercover vehicles in a parking
lot like Dimond Center or Fred Meyer and look for a drug deal.
They're easy to spot. If the officers didn't see something in
about 30 minutes they'd move to another location. Drug dealers
quickly figure out there's enforcement if officers are there on
a fairly regular basis. Right now, officers aren't engaging in
OI activities enough to discourage the criminal behavior.
1:46:57 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked how the definition of rape has changed.
DETECTIVE BELL replied the new definition includes penetration,
no matter how slight. The old definition didn't specifically
mention penetration so the interpretation varied.
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if the 2012 numbers would increase if the
new definition was used.
DETECTIVE BELL answered yes. The annual statistical report for
2013 has a slightly higher number of rapes under the new
definition as opposed to the old one.
CHAIR MCGUIRE stated support for the new definition.
SENATOR MICCICHE observed that for 2009-2012 the average number
of forcible rapes per year was 280 and for 2013 it was 408.
DETECTIVE BELL said that when he was asked to discuss the recent
homicides in Anchorage, he visited the detective units to gather
recent data on arrest numbers. This year Anchorage has had 33
shootings and 10 adult homicides. All 10 homicides are believed
to be drug related and marijuana was the primary drug associated
with the homicide. Four of the homicides occurred during a "drug
rip." That is a term for a purchase or sale agreement that goes
bad. Two of those were marijuana sales.
1:50:52 PM
SENATOR COSTELLO asked if he's followed other legal marijuana
states and if there's a trend that can be expected.
DETECTIVE BELL replied he hasn't followed other states, but he
believes the trend is fairly predictable.
CHAIR MCGUIRE said it would be interesting to look at how the
crime rates have changed in states that have regulated
marijuana. She asked if that was something he could help the
committee with in the future.
DETECTIVE BELL commented on the different types of enforcement
once it's legalized.
Continuing his testimony, he said APD's response to the recent
shootings was to develop a taskforce. It consists of the
remnants of the special assignment and vice units and some
community action policing (CAP) members. He noted that he'd
heard that the taskforce would be dismantled once the crime
uptick falls, and warned that the only way to keep crime rates
down is to keep the pressure on. He pointed out that there's no
way to measure the number of crimes that are prevented by OI
activities so those numbers don't appear in the Uniform Crime
Report (UCR). He offered to share the data showing the number of
arrests the drug units made, which is the only way to measure
what they've done.
SENATOR MICCICHE reviewed the of UCR Index Crimes summary sheet
in the packet and observed that the numbers are trending upward.
He noted that the largest increases are in forcible rape,
burglary, and larceny-theft. He asked Detective Bell what he
attributes those increases to.
DETECTIVE BELL said that according to the APD property crimes
supervisor, 85-90 percent of property crimes have a drug nexus.
In 2014 APD disbanded the theft unit and shifted those
responsibilities to the burglary unit. What he learned when he
visited the unit was that if the value of the stolen property is
less than $10,000, it isn't assigned to a detective for
investigation. The responding officer is obligated to do a
follow up on the crime. Before the theft unit was disbanded,
felony level thefts ($750 and higher) were assigned to
detectives in the theft unit to be investigated.
1:59:24 PM
SENATOR COGHILL joined the committee.
DETECTIVE BELL, responding to a comment, clarified that if
somebody is arrested for the crime the matter is forwarded to
the district attorney and charges are filed if there is probable
cause.
CHAIR MCGUIRE said the point of the hearing is to look at the
areas that might be neglected so she appreciates the candor. She
recapped that the special arrest unit has gone from 18 to 7; the
gang unit has gone from 17 to 5; and there's no longer a theft
investigation unit. Now there isn't an investigation unless the
property is valued at more than $10,000.
SENATOR MICCICHE observed that as funding is cut, trends that
nobody likes to see can be expected.
2:01:33 PM
DETECTIVE BELL added that when staffing levels drop so
drastically, the administration has to prioritize and make
decisions about what crimes will be investigated because there
are a lot of other crimes to consider. Responding to a question
about a suspect report, he explained that even when there was a
theft unit not all reports were investigated. Sometimes there
was no suspect information or physical evidence to investigate.
Right now, there aren't many investigators and theft crimes
aren't assigned unless they meet the $10,000 floor.
DETECTIVE BELL reviewed the data he gathered on APD drug
arrests. In 2010, there were 914 drug arrests and 245 were for
sales or manufacturing. In 2014, there were 397 arrests for
drug-related crimes and 67 were for sales or manufacturing. He
opined that this highlights the importance of having drug units
investigate those crimes.
2:04:24 PM
SENATOR COSTELLO mentioned an article she read about a program
that some police departments are using that is a predicting
crime algorithm. She asked if he was familiar with it.
DETECTIVE BELL said he didn't know much about it.
CHAIR MCGUIRE opined that it's an interesting concept to think
about in the future.
2:05:14 PM
SENATOR GARDNER noted that the chart showing 2004-2008 vs. 2009-
2014 historical crime trends in Anchorage didn't have a category
for drug crimes. She asked if that category was omitted or if
it's embedded in another category.
DETECTIVE BELL said he wasn't familiar with the chart. The
numbers he gathered were intended to highlight what APD is doing
based on outcomes.
CHAIR MCGUIRE distributed a copy of the chart and advised that
it was issued by the mayor's task force.
SENATOR MICCICHE said he assumes that the increases in the UCR
rates of forcible rape are likely drug related.
DETECTIVE BELL responded that the 2013 statistical report on the
MOA website reports that 50 percent of the sex crimes are
alcohol related, 10 percent to 12 percent are both drug and
alcohol related, and a small percentage are drug related
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if he could single out one program that
is underfunded that could make a serious dent in in the
increasing trends for drug-related crimes.
DETECTIVE BELL answered no; his knowledge is from the beat
perspective and the point he's making is that staffing levels
have to be high enough to proactively make drug-related arrests.
CHAIR MCGUIRE noted that he was describing cuts to specific
units that have a singular focus, which is what Senator Micciche
was referencing. She asked if there is specialized training for
singular focus areas like the gang unit.
DETECTIVE BELL explained that when there was a gang unit, an
"intel" officer sat in the unit and gathered information on all
the gangs. They had weekly meetings to share information with
probations, the Department of Corrections, McLaughlin Youth
Center, school resource officers, and the troopers. They knew
the players and had a feel for what was happening. Homicide
detectives today have to start from scratch on every
investigation.
2:11:44 PM
SENATOR COSTELLO asked him to discuss the impact of losing
trained police officers who take jobs elsewhere and not
realizing a benefit from the money that was spent on their
training.
DETECTIVE BELL said it's more and more difficult to recruit and
retain qualified candidates. What would really help is to have a
defined benefit program for public safety that would give new
officers a reason to stay. Now they're taking their training and
experience and the money that's been spent on them and going
somewhere else to work.
SENATOR COSTELLO asked if APD does exit interviews so it knows
the reason that officers are leaving.
DETECTIVE BELL clarified that the union does exit interviews.
He shared arrest numbers for officer initiated (OI) activities
to illustrate that when officers have time to be proactive,
crime decreases.
· 2009 - 206 arrests for prostitution; 2014 - 29 arrests.
· 2009 - 2,216 DUI arrests; 2014 - 1,015 arrests.
· 2009 - 926 arrests for liquor law violations; 2014 - 197
arrests.
· 2009 - 459 arrests for minor consuming alcohol; 2014 - 96
arrests.
· 2009 - 45,361 traffic citations were issued; 2013 - 22,818
traffic citations were issued.
· 2009 - 296,636 calls for service; 2013 - 239,765 calls for
service.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI opined that a big reason for the drop in
calls for service is that people don't get a response when they
call.
2:17:16 PM
DETECTIVE BELL advised that in 2010 MOA contracted with the
Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) to evaluate APD's
resource allocation. The administrative goal at that time was
for officers to spend 40 percent of their unallocated time on
community policing. He noted that the police officers he spoke
with this last week indicated that they have essentially no
unallocated time. They're writing reports and running call-to-
call and don't have time to do traffic stops and officer
initiated drug activities.
SENATOR COSTELLO asked when the reports have to be written and
if the requirements have become more onerous.
DETECTIVE BELL replied it probably differs from shift to shift
but the officers working from 11:00 pm to 8:00 am don't have
time to write their reports right after an event takes place.
He reported that in 2009 APD had 414 sworn police officers and
in 2010 there were 374 sworn officers. The PERF report
recommended increasing staffing to 456 officers in order to
reach the 40 percent goal of unallocated time for community
policing. In June 2014 the APD sworn officer numbers dropped to
321, plus an academy of 17. He expressed hope that the foregoing
information demonstrates the need for increasing staffing and
bringing back the two special assignment units.
CHAIR MCGUIRE thanked Detective Bell and recognized Commissioner
Folger.
2:22:29 PM
GARY FOLGER, Commissioner, Department of Public Safety (DPS),
discussed partnering with the APD Task Force and warned that the
increase in violent crime in Anchorage can predictably spread to
other communities.
CHAIR MCGUIRE asked him to elaborate.
COMMISSIONER FOLGER said that one of his largest challenges as
commissioner is to provide rural law enforcement; the crimes
that occur in urban areas inevitably spread and it takes
specialized units to do the investigations. He mentioned drug
crimes and sex trafficking and noted that the homicide rate in
Alaska dropped in the last decade.
CHAIR MCGUIRE asked how he would characterize the uptick in
crime between 2009 and 2015.
COMMISSIONER FOLGER replied it's based on societal norms.
CHAIR MCGUIRE asked what he recommends going forward.
COMMISSIONER FOLGER responded that it's a combination of
intervention, prevention, and enforcement.
SENATOR MICCICHE asked what the state and municipalities can do
together to make Alaska an unpleasant place for bad guys to
live.
COMMISSIONER FOLGER cited interaction between police agencies,
the exchange of information through the fusion center,
partnering, and the Alaska Records Management System (ARMS).
CHAIR MCGUIRE asked if ARMS information is shared on the local
police level.
COMMISSIONER FOLGER confirmed that DPS has shared with smaller
departments.
CHAIR MCGUIRE thanked Commissioner Folger and recognized Jake
Metcalfe.
2:30:52 PM
JAKE METCALFE, Executive Director, Public Safety Employees
Association, (PSEA), advised that the union represents 700 to
800 sworn and unsworn public safety employees throughout the
state. This includes Alaska State Troopers from trooper through
sergeant level, court service officers, and various municipal
police officers.
He stated concern that there hasn't been any growth in public
safety employees since 2009 yet the state's population is
increasing. He referenced the UAA statistics from August 2014
that show that Alaska is well below the national standard of 370
sworn officers for each 100,000 in population. Responding to a
request from the chair, he agreed to forward the information to
the committee.
MR. METCALFE also suggested the committee look at the Indian Law
and Order Commission Report from 2013. It provides a statewide
rural perspective of law enforcement. One statistic that's
mentioned is that DPS provides 1 to 1.4 field officers per
million acres, but the ratio of officers to territory is
actually much lower because approximately 370 officers cannot
serve on a 24/7 basis. DPS also reported that officers are often
hampered by delayed notification, long response distance, and
the uncertainties of weather and transportation. He agreed with
Commissioner Folger that the problems in Anchorage spread to
other parts of the state. There is a definite cause and effect,
he said.
He shared that 30 public safety employees are eligible to retire
between now and September 2016. That includes about 10 percent
of the troopers in the state. It takes time and money to train
people to take those positions and it's more difficult to
recruit and retain employees than it used to be.
2:37:48 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked what the average length of service is for
the 700 to 800 sworn and unsworn officers in the union.
MR. METCALFE offered to follow up with the information.
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if PSEA has considered surveying its
membership to understand what might make the department more
attractive.
MR. METCALFE said they've looked at Internet surveys and
partnering with other organizations to do that because it's an
important tool.
CHAIR MCGUIRE asked him to keep the committee abreast of any
survey information.
MR. METCALFE commented on the different ways and reasons
employers conduct surveys.
SENATOR MICCICHE encouraged him to pursue a membership wide
survey.
SENATOR COSTELLO asked how serious the problem is that 10
percent of the trooper force is eligible to retire next year.
MR. METCALFE said employees don't all leave when they're
eligible to retire, but it's definitely a concern. Another
consideration is that as positions are cut the remaining
employees are doing more work without additional compensation.
SENATOR COGHILL mentioned quality of live and asked if he could
share information about grievances filed because it might be a
useful indicator.
MR. METCALFE said he can't think of a grievance related to
quality of life but issues for rural troopers are the cost of
living, the isolation, and the expense to travel back and forth
to work. He noted that flex scheduling has been helpful in some
circumstances. He opined that the best thing for rural Alaska is
to have police officers that are invested in the community.
Modern technology solutions like the CompStat algorithm for
staffing has worked in large communities and it might or might
not work here.
CHAIR MCGUIRE thanked Mr. Metcalfe and recognized Mayor
Sullivan.
2:49:34 PM
DAN SULLIVAN, Mayor, Municipality of Anchorage, referenced the
UCR index crime statistics for 2009-2013 that Detective Bell
provided and pointed out that five of the seven categories are
flat or show a decline. He also referenced APD's historical
crime trends for 2004-2008 versus 2009-2014 and pointed out that
the combined incident rate per 100,000 population was down for
the previous five years. It's also a good trend that five of the
seven crime categories are down for the previous five years
compared to 2004-2008.
He explained that in response to the spike in violent crime in
January, APD implemented a multiagency task force that
accomplished what it was supposed to. The statistics so far show
that APD has made 26 arrests, searched 7 vehicles, seized 40
guns, seized $41,500 in cash, issued 3 citations for public
consumption of marijuana, and 5 warrants for MICS. He described
the January spike as an anomaly and highlighted that in 2014
Anchorage had the lowest number of murders in 20 years.
MAYOR SULLIVAN said it's important to realize that fewer crimes
are reported in Anchorage today than 30 years ago when the
population was 120,000 smaller. That shows that, overall,
Anchorage is a safe city, he said.
Addressing the issue of staffing, he said that as soon as MOA
was financially capable it began to add back to the police
department. There was an academy in 2011 and 2013 and two
academies in 2014. A new academy starts in May and another in
November. He expressed confidence that this will put the sworn
officer level at about 400, which is on track for the community
policing goals. He said the PERF Report made some suggestions
that have been implemented. Patrol officers are on regular beats
getting to know the business people, the troublemakers, and who
gives good information.
He highlighted that in 2003 the APD budget was $45 million and
in 2014 it more than doubled to $95 million. Inflation grew at
about 30 percent over that period so there's been no lack of
commitment monetarily. The challenge has been that the cost per
employee has risen dramatically.
CHAIR MCGUIRE asked if the taskforce has decided to recommend
increasing the number of police officers in the vice unit, the
gang unit, and the special investigations unit.
MAYOR SULLIVAN explained that those sorts of recommendations
come from the professionals in the police department. He
clarified that there never was a gang unit per se, but growing
the department will ensure that areas of deficiency are
addressed.
3:00:32 PM
SENATOR ELLIS noted that he and former Senator Fred Dyson talked
for more than a decade about the coming epidemic of heroin and
opioid addiction. He asked Mayor Sullivan if he had heard from
other local officials about increases in the use of black tar
heroin that's coming in from the Mexican cartels.
MAYOR SULLIVAN answered yes and it's a shared concern statewide.
He highlighted that as of 3/25/2015 the Street Crimes Task Force
seized [284.95 grams of methamphetamine, 53.27 grams of heroin,
.7 grams of cocaine, 16.35 grams of marijuana, 1457.2 grams of
marijuana edibles, .52 grams of morphine, and 1 Fentanyl patch.]
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if he had any ideas on how to make it
unpleasant for the people who deal and import drugs into Alaskan
communities.
MAYOR SULLIVAN replied it's a combination of factors. There has
to be good intel that leads to arrests and a criminal justice
system has to provide penalties that are sufficiently stiff to
either remove the people from the street for long periods or
deter them all together.
SENATOR COSTELLO asked what the taskforce is tasked with doing.
MAYOR SULLIVAN replied it's an information sharing organization
that is designed to break down interagency silos to ensure that
communication takes place.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how the legislature can help.
MAYOR SULLIVAN said it would be helpful to have grant monies for
specific things like overtime to work drug crimes or adding
specialists.
CHAIR MCGUIRE thanked Mayor Sullivan asked him to forward any
further information that comes out of the taskforce. She
welcomed Mr. Allridge.
3:07:08 PM
CHRISTOPHER ALLRIDGE, Correctional Officer II, Anchorage
Correctional Complex, related that when he first started working
corrections in 2006, prisoners of all races and ethnicity lived,
ate, and worked together without many problems. However, as time
went by inmates started to self-segregate and gang recruitment
and activity cropped up "within the walls." There was a rise in
assaults among inmates and on staff and they started to see
rapes and more extortion. Staff was threatened and harassed. The
inmates that returned from Colorado brought back different
habits and there's been a rise in gang recruitments,
particularly among the young and easily influenced inmates.
MR. ALLRIDGE reasoned that the inmates started to segregate into
groups as they felt less safe and secure within the facility.
They have to depend on each other because there are no longer
enough corrections officers to provide that type of security.
CHAIR MCGUIRE thanked Mr. Allridge for his work and perspective.
3:11:52 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair McGuire adjourned the Senate Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting at 3:11 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Police Department Task Force Update.pdf |
SJUD 3/27/2015 1:30:00 PM |
|
| APD Crime Trends.pdf |
SJUD 3/27/2015 1:30:00 PM |
|
| SCTF Stats - APD.pdf |
SJUD 3/27/2015 1:30:00 PM |
|
| APDEA testimony for 3 27.pdf |
SJUD 3/27/2015 1:30:00 PM |