OPINION: Yes, we can reduce homelessness and fight crime

Like most cities across the country, Anchorage faces complicated challenges relating to homelessness, the drug epidemic and property crime. Although people colloquially refer to these problems as “homelessness,” we actually face multiple challenges that are related to one another but require targeted responses in terms of public policies and budgets. We can and must solve these problems if we work together — across party lines, and by partnering as state and local governments.

Rising housing costs, stagnant wages followed by inflation, Wall Street’s aggressive housing speculation, and shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed more individuals and families into homelessness. There is little question that “Housing First” policies are the most effective and most economical response to homelessness in the short term. The Anchorage Assembly has already implemented Housing First practices and pro-growth policies encouraging construction of more market-rate housing, including Affordable Dwelling Units. We have the resources to shelter and house families who don’t have a place to live. However, even a perfectly executed Housing First approach will not solve the related but different challenges of crime and vagrancy.

Property crime, open air drug markets, and chop shops in the park system may exist alongside homelessness, but are not the same thing. When people complain about the impact of “homelessness,” they are primarily concerned about aggressive property criminals, drug dealers and vagrants. Reducing crime requires a different policy response than homelessness. As state legislators, we have toughened crime laws and improved state policy around mental health crisis response. The bipartisan House majority passed pension reform to improve retention and recruitment of police officers, but this critical public safety legislation died in the Senate. The Anchorage Assembly has significantly expanded the police force and scaled up “crisis intervention” for people with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health issues. Although Anchorage has expanded the police/Parks Department workforce clearing encampments, it just doesn’t meet the need yet. At the state level, we have not provided adequate community assistance to help local governments expand law enforcement capacity. In next year’s budget, I will propose new matching funding to help local governments expand police departments and crisis response staffing. We simply don’t have enough police officers and crisis intervention first responders to keep our streets safe.

The drug epidemic is the primary cause of rising property crime and vagrancy, and exacerbates homelessness. White-collar criminals in the pharmaceutical industry, such as the Sackler family of Purdue Pharma, have escaped without jail time, merely paying cash settlements that don’t even come close to covering costs of substance abuse treatment, policing, prosecution, and family intervention to protect children of addicts. Today, the drug epidemic is a leading cause of death in America, and Alaska has the fastest-rising rate of opioid deaths in America. We need to expand our substance abuse and behavioral health treatment so that addicts who want to stop using have a chance to quit drugs. Thieves and drug dealers should be arrested and prosecuted, and this requires more resources for law enforcement — from police to prosecutors. Fortunately, Reps. Andy Josephson and Matt Claman led state legislative efforts to significantly expand funding for prosecutors this year. Legislators appropriated funds for a new addiction treatment facility that will be located on the U-Med campus. However, there is simply not enough capacity to provide addiction treatment when Alaskans need it, and the state will need to step up if we’re going to solve this problem.

To tackle the interrelated problems of homelessness, crime and addiction, we need an all-of-the-above strategy: More treatment for addiction, more funding for police and other first responders, and more housing support for families. Our local and state governments are facing a new paradigm as a result of the drug epidemic, housing price inflation, and long term labor market trends. These are challenging problems, but they are solvable if we work together.

Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage, represents neighborhoods in and around downtown Anchorage, and co-chairs the House Labor and Commerce Committee.

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