The news that the Anchorage police intend to focus their crime-fighting efforts in Spenard was welcome indeed. This emphasis, however, is long overdue and cannot be a short-term response if we are truly committed to solving crime in the area.
I represented Spenard for nine years on the Anchorage Assembly. During that time, I and other Assembly members, police officers, the Spenard community council, the Westside Community Patrol and local residents spent many hours working to find solutions to the chronic crime that plagues the area.
All of the discussions and exchange of ideas boiled down to one irrefutable fact: Only a consistent and concentrated police presence in the area can be truly effective in stopping crime. When open solicitation for prostitution and drug sales happen on both the main streets and in adjacent residential areas, it is clear that the criminal element has no fear of enforcement.
Several months ago, the Anchorage Daily News published an article that indicated which cities were showing a decline in crime and which cities were showing an increase. Anchorage, unfortunately, was one of the cities with the statistics going the wrong way. Violent crime in particular has shown an alarming growth rate over the last five years.
According to the statistics, comparing 2003 to 2007, murder was up 21 percent, rape was up 5 percent, robbery was up 33 percent and aggravated assault was up 46 percent. While the increase in the rape statistic was not as dramatic as the others, we already have one of the highest rates of rape in the nation. During this period, we have added more than 80 new police officers and have increased city spending by more than 50 percent.
Clearly, the solution involves more than just adding police officers; it includes how those officers are utilized. The chief of police in Chicago, one of the cities mentioned in the Daily News article that showed a decline in crime statistics, had a very simple and common sense explanation for their success. He said a city needs to concentrate its police resources where the crime is. We've been saying that in Spenard for a long time.
The Anchorage Police Department has historically been understaffed compared to other similarly sized cities. This makes it all the more important that our officers are deployed where they can have the greatest impact on crime. While on the Assembly, I proposed an independent study to determine if we are assigning our police resources where they can most effectively fight the most serious crimes.
These studies are typically conducted by groups such as the Association of Chiefs of Police, and they provide an independent and unbiased look at police departments around the country. The Anchorage police chief, Rob Huen, has stated that he would welcome such a review. Indeed, any information that could help reduce our growing violent crime rate should be strongly encouraged.
The city has done a good job working with federal prosecutors to make sure that those arrested for serious crimes and gang activity receive tougher sentences. There are also major changes and increased funding needed for the state judicial system, which has become severely backlogged and dysfunctional. We need to do our part by making sure our valuable police resources are properly deployed and that they establish a no-tolerance policy for all crimes in an area, as Rudy Guiliani did in New York.
The effort in Spenard is greatly appreciated and needs to be sustained, along with a similar focus in each of our city's higher crime areas. We also need to convince our state leaders to properly fund the state judicial system. These should be the top priorities of the next city administration.
Dan Sullivan represented West Anchorage on the Anchorage Assembly 1999 to 2008.
By DAN SULLIVAN