Could Partnerships and Education Revolutionize Alaska’s Village Public Safety Officer Program
Abstract
Alaska’s Village Public Safety Officers (VPSOs) are known as the first responders in the last frontier. VPSOs have been responding to crime and the issues that fuel crime, and other emergencies in Alaska’s rural villages since 1979. Today the VPSO program is confronting some of the highest rates of violence against women, alcohol abuse, suicide, and child welfare issues in the nation. Due to many serious issues, such as communication, local control, resource, and officer turnover/shortage issues, the VPSO program cannot continue down its current path. A proven solution which could revolutionize the VPSO program can be found in the city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Prince Albert’s HUB and COR community mobilization initiative. This paper will provide an overview of how the VPSO program was established, how it functions today, and the serious issues that threaten the program’s future. An overview of the Prince Albert HUB and COR and Scotland’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) will follow. The final section examines how the new VPSO initiative could function under the HUB and COR model and why education will play an important role in the new VPSO initiative.
References
Andrews, L. (2013, January 16). Though still high, Alaska's homicide, suicide rates drop a bit. Alaska Dispatch News. Retrieved from http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/though-still-high-alaskas-homicide-suicide-rates-drop-bit
Angaiak, S. (2014, October 08). Troopers address challenges in remote village responses. KTUU Anchorage Channel 2. Retrieved from http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/troopers-
address-challenges-in-remote-village-responses/29025274
Arlow, Steven. Testimony to the Alaska House State Affairs Standing Committee on
House Bill No. 199. House State Affairs Standing Committee meeting on HB No. 199, 212, and 273, February 18, 2014. Available at: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/pdf/28/M/HSTA2014-02-180804.PDF; Accessed 04/25/2015.
Bernard, S. (2014). Rape culture in the Alaskan wilderness. The Atlantic. Retrieved from
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/09/rape-culture-in-the-alaskan-
wilderness/379976/
Braithwaite, J. (2004). Restorative Justice and De-Professionalization. The Good Society,
(1), 28-31.
Buxton, M. (2015). Alaska bars join fight against fetal alcohol disorders. The Fairbanks Daily News Miner. Retrieved from
Caldwell, S. (2014, September 07). In northwest arctic, teens to lead the way in suicide
prevention. Alaska Dispatch News. Retrieved from
http://www.adn.com/article/20140907/northwest-arctic-teens-lead-way-suicide-
prevention
Canfield, J. (2013, November 29). Report: Safety, justice systems in rural Alaska worst in U.S. Juneau Empire. Retrieved from http://juneauempire.com/state/2013-
-29/report-safety-justice-systems-rural-alaska-worst-us#.UyjJiyhRLuc
Catalano, R., Loeber, R. & Mckinney, K. (1999). School and community interventions to prevent serious and violent offending. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Chomicz, D. (2015). Alaska among top states in illicit drug use. Fairbanks Daily News Miner. Retrieved from http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/alaska-among-top-states-in-illicit-drug-use/article_0f6569c0-c187-11e4-99b8-1b5c8b4b0320.html
Clinton, P. (2013). Alaska’s village public safety officer’s – VPSOs respond to remote areas where no troopers are stationed. Police magazine. Retrieved from http://www.policemag.com/blog/careers/story/2013/03/alaska-s-village-public-safety-officers.aspx
D’oro, R. (2008). Many Alaska villages have no police officers. Juneau Empire. Retrieved from http://juneauempire.com/stories/020708/sta_244738079.shtml#.VRBvzly-s3Q
De Souza, A. (2011). New policing model seeing tangible results. PANOW, 30 September, 1-7. Retrieved from http://panow.com/article/131678/new-policing-model-seeing-tangible-results
DeMarban, A. (2013, February 05). Alaska's north slope may get blazing fast internet access. Alaska Dispatch News. Retrieved from http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/alaskas-north-slope-may-get-blazing-fast-internet-access
DeMarban, A. (2013, December 04). Panel blasts ‘colonial model’ of justice in rural Alaska, backs Indian country model. Alaska Dispatch News. Retrieved from http://www.adn.com/article/20131204/panel-blasts-colonial-model-justice-rural-alaska-backs-indian-country-model
Demer, L. (2015). Project to arm village officers begins with just 3 making initial cut. Alaska Dispatch News. Retrieved from
http://www.adn.com/article/20150311/project-arm-vpsos-gets-going-just-three-making-initial-cut
Department of Justice Canada. (2012). Minister of Justice national youth justice policing award 2012. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/yj-jj/nyjpa-pnmjj/2012.html
Federal Bureau of Investigations (2013). Frequently Asked Questions about the Change in the UCR Definition of Rape. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/about-
us/cjis/ucr/recent-program-updates/new-rape-definition-frequently-asked-questions
Glaser, M. (2014). Heroin dealers target Nome: epidemic hits home for city mayor. KTUU Channel 2. Retrieved from http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/heroin-dealers-target-nome-epidemic-hits-home-for-city-mayor/29907280
Horwitz, S. (2014). In rural villages, little protection for Alaska Natives – In tiny Tlingit community of Kake, a brutal murder highlights how help often comes slowly and public safety is in short supply. The Washington Post. Retrieved from
Jarrett, B. (Fall 2012/Winter 2013). Alaska justice forum. Moving Beyond Brands:Integrating Approaches to Mediation, 29(3-4), 1-12. Retrieved from http://justice.uaa.alaska.edu/forum/29/3-4fall2012winter2013/293-4.fall2012winter2013.pdf
Kaste, M. (2014). Officer’s death raises safety concerns for Alaska’s unarmed law enforcement. National Public Radio. Retrieved from
http://www.npr.org/2014/11/20/364984112/officer-death-raises-safety-concerns-
for-alaska-s-unarmed-cops
Lanier, M. M. (2010). Epidemiological criminology (epicrim): Definition and application. Journal of Philosophical and Theoretical Criminology, 2(1), 63-103.
Mader, I. (1994, January 30) Alaska native's proposal seeks to heal villages -- man hopes to end plague of despair. The Seattle Times. Retrieved from
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19940130&slug=1892506
Masters, Joe. Testimony to the Alaska House State Affairs Standing Committee on House Bill No. 199. House State Affairs Standing Committee meeting on HB No. 199, 212, and 273, February 18, 2014. Available at: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/pdf/28/M/HSTA2014-02-180804.PDF; Accessed 04/25/2015.
Messick, J. (1979). The Village Public Safety Officer Program: A Conceptual Design to Improve Law Enforcement and Public Safety in the Rural Areas of Alaska. Juneau, AK: Department of Public Safety.
Paperny, A. M. (2012, July 23). Toronto tries Saskatchewan’s method for stopping crime before it starts. The Globe and Mail, pp. 1-3.
Ransford, C., Kane, C., & Slutkin, G. (2013). Cure Violence a disease control approach to reduce violence and change behavior. In E. Waltermauer & T.A. Akers (Eds.), Epidemiological criminology theory to practice. (pp. 232-248) New York: Routledge.
Restino, C. (2012) Child abuse and neglect a sinister problem across Alaska. Alaska
Dispatch News. Retrieved from http://www.adn.com/article/child-abuse-and-neglect-sinister-problem-across-alaska
Roberts, J. (Winter 2005). Alaska Justice Forum. Improving public safety in rural Alaska: A review of past studies, 21 (4), 3-8. Retrieved from
http://justice.uaa.alaska.edu/forum/21/4winter2005/a_ruralalaska.html
Shedlock, J. (2014, January 27). Alaska state troopers release annual drug report. Alaska Dispatch News. Retrieved from http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20140227/alaska-state-troopers-release-annual-drug-report
Siegel, L. J. (2010). Criminology theories, patterns, and typologies. (10 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Sutter, J.D. (2014). The lawless ‘end of the land’. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/03/opinion/sutter-alaska-rape-lawless/index.html
Turner, R. (2013). The crime fighter's revolution. Winnipeg Free Press, 1 June, 1-7.
United States Census Bureau (2014, May 16). State & county quickfacts. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/02000.html
University of Calgary (Winter, 2012). Intervention to address intergenerational trauma:
Overcoming, resisting and preventing structural violence. Retrieved from http://www.ucalgary.ca/wethurston/files/wethurston/Report_InterventionToAddressIntergenerationalTrauma.pdf
Walsh, B. (2013). How terrestrial broadband is forever changing telecommunications in the arctic. Alaska Business Monthly. Retrieved from http://www.akbizmag.com/Alaska-Business-Monthly/September-2013/How-Terrestrial-Broadband-is-Forever-Changing-Telecommunications-in-the-Arctic/
Wood, D. S. (2000). UAA Justice Center. Turnover among Village Public Safety Officers: An examination of the factors associated with attrition. Justice Center, 1-191. Retrieved from
http://justice.uaa.alaska.edu/research/1990/9901.vpso/9901.02.turnover.pdf
Yardley, W. (2007). One of the world’s highest suicide rates: Native
Alaskan villages. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/14/world/americas/14iht-
alaska.1.5699923.html?_r=1&
