The Norton Sound villages of Stebbins and St. Michael will soon have a full-time presence from the Alaska State Troopers. According to spokesperson for the troopers, Austin McDaniel, two troopers already stationed in western Alaska will be relocated to the villages on two week rotations. McDaniel said the decision follows an increase in service calls in the area.
“We are regularly looking at our staffing posture around the state and where can we take the limited number of state trooper positions that we have and place those positions in communities that will make the biggest impact to public safety,” McDaniel said.
Alaska State Troopers often rotate staff through villages, but its unusual to have a permanent trooper present. In the Norton Sound area, troopers typically respond to calls from Nome or Unalakleet, potentially adding hours or even days to response times.
“While we do have our own aircraft up in the up in the region, sometimes just the nature of traveling in rural Alaska, it might take us longer to get there than we want it to take,” McDaniel said.
Stebbins’ former mayor, Sharon Snowball, sent a letter to the Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS) last September requesting an increased presence to address crime, substance abuse, and the well-being of its community. DPS Commissioner James Cockrell gave the final go-ahead in a Jan. 22 letter to leaders in Stebbins and St. Michael.
“Commissioner Cockrell has certainly made it clear since he took office that we needed to improve our presence across rural Alaska,” McDaniel said. “This is just another one of the many steps that he's taken to continue that effort.”
Both Stebbins and St. Michael are local option communities with bans on the sale and importation of alcohol. Stebbins’ City Administrator Daisy Katcheak said despite the ban, alcohol still flows through the communities. Worryingly, Katcheak said illicit drugs are traveling through the villages too.
“My community becomes a highway in the winter and summertime. With the water, there's no way around it, and sometimes illicit drugs try to make their way passing through this village to lower villages or higher villages,” Katcheak said.
Katcheak hopes the permanent presence will also help attract applicants for DPS' village public safety officer program, which trains and employs local peace officers that work alongside troopers. The Norton Sound region’s program is administered by Nome-based tribal nonprofit Kawerak.
Katcheak said much is on the horizon for Stebbins as it prepares to break ground on a new school, implement city-wide water and sewage lines, and rehabilitate the road to St. Michael. She said it’s crucial the two communities get a grip on their crime rates.
“I got much progress coming. I want to keep my contractors safe. I want to keep my people safe and have more police presence,” Katcheak said.
Commissioner Cockrell plans to travel to Stebbins and St. Michael to discuss housing and office options for the troopers, with plans to relocate them by the summer.
