Reworking efforts to make downtown Anchorage safer

Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd., or ADP, is a special assessment district that was created by the commercial property owners downtown to support a clean, safe and vital city center. By our governing documents we are to enhance municipal services, not replace them. ADP is supported by the property owners within the Downtown Improvement District , which stretches from Gambell to Coastal Place and 1st Avenue to 9th Avenue.

In 2016, ADP and Anchorage Community Development Authority through EasyPark formed a collaboration called “Safety First.” EasyPark took calls and dispatched ADP ambassadors. Safety First provided an opportunity for business owners, property owners, workers, guests, etc., to call and get support as needed.

The original marketing for this program directed persons to call Safety First to report: “Safety assistance, disorderly or suspicious behavior, panhandling, nuisance behavior, public drinking, inebriates, suspicion of drug dealing or drug use, graffiti, removing trash, sidewalk cleaning or trash clean-up calls.”

Although some of the above items are in the ambassador’s purview, a number of them are petty crimes or infractions and beyond their scope as they are not law enforcement officers or social service providers. Nevertheless, this program quickly became a victim of its own success, as ADP ambassadors responded quickly to calls — the calls came more frequently and the intensity of requests increased.

As the severity of needs increased, ADP ambassadors quickly found themselves unable to assist in situations where law enforcement officers or social service providers were needed. Additionally, two areas became hot spots for nefarious activity in 2020, and all of our resources were diverted to those locations at the expense of full coverage of the Downtown Improvement District. We were unable to provide services equally across the district, and the frequency of calls increased to these two areas.

As the calls continued to increase, we began to audit the program and became aware that a substantial number of these calls should have been placed to 911 or 311. Understanding that municipal services are often allocated based on data, we began to recognize that diverting these calls away from the Anchorage Police Department and social service providers was having a more negative impact as it was making the challenges we were experiencing downtown seem less severe.

ADP remains committed to a clean, safe and vital downtown, but we are discontinuing the Safety First program, as we recognize that it has had unintended consequences of making downtown less safe by diverting calls away from the Anchorage Police Department and the appropriate resources needed to address these challenges.

Over the past six months, we have worked closely with the Anchorage Police Department, mayor’s office, Anchorage Assembly and other stakeholders to communicate these challenges and ask for increased support to offset the impact of the discontinuation of this program. During this time, we have seen an increase in the frequency of downtown patrols and support from the Community Action Police, or CAP, Team. In addition, we are confident that the new Mobile Crisis Team can assist those in need of mental health support.

On Jan. 1, ADP will return to our previous proven model, with our ambassadors patrolling the Downtown Improvement District as the “eyes and ears” of downtown. We are confident that the partnership between ADP’s ambassadors and law enforcement is the most effective course of action to ensure a safe downtown for everyone.

Amanda K. Moser is executive director of the Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd. Gretchen Fauske is ADP’s board president, and Mark Begich and Michelle Klouda serve as vice presidents.

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