Attorney General William Barr declares emergency for public safety in Alaska

Attorney General William Barr signed an emergency for public safety and announced that the Justice Department would be providing more than $10 million in funds to support local law enforcement in Alaska Native villages.

Alaska, which has the highest per-capita crime rate in the country, has been plagued by issues with law enforcement in small, primarily Alaska Native communities across the state. Last month, it was reported that one in three communities across the state had no local law enforcement at some point this year.

“In May, when I visited Alaska, I witnessed firsthand the complex, unique, and dire law enforcement challenges the State of Alaska and its remote Alaska Native communities are facing,” Barr, 69, said in a Friday statement. “With this emergency declaration, I am directing resources where they are needed most and needed immediately, to support the local law enforcement response in Alaska Native communities, whose people are dealing with extremely high rates of violence.”

Many of those small communities, dotted across the state and largely only accessible by boat or plane, have some of the highest rates of sexual assault and suicide. Alaska Natives are disproportionately plagued by the crime.

The president of the Alaska Federation of Natives, Julie Kitka, praised Barr’s move to the Anchorage Daily News. She views the scale of Barr’s declaration as unprecedented for the state.

“We appreciate that U.S. Attorney General William Barr clearly understands the urgency of the public safety situation in rural Alaska,” Kitka said.

Kitka thinks the funding presents a real chance to make a difference, AFN spokesman Jeffry Silverman said.

Barr said he is giving agencies within his department a month to submit plans on how they will handle public safety in the state. In addition, $14 million more has been identified that is available to assist child advocacy centers in Alaska and the lower 48 states.

“I want to be sure that the support this department offers to Alaska Native communities will support solutions identified by the communities themselves,” Barr said. “The only way for us to provide effective support is to work in partnership with others. This is true in Alaska and throughout Indian country.”