Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

The Haines Borough Assembly advanced an amended ballot question that would allow Lutak, Mud Bay and Haines Highway residents to vote to create their own separate “on-call police service areas” that would be funded by a property tax increase.

The original ordinance called for one on-call police service area that would encompass the bulk of borough land outside the townsite that’s on the road system. Police services would include “response to verbal or written reports of situations described as crimes in progress, public health and safety risks, or property crimes. Services may include traffic control and enforcement or patrols based on scheduled events, citizen complaints or a need.”

Assembly member Sean Maidy proposed they change the word “need” to “request.” “Everyone would interpret [need] in a different way, but if someone requests it then you know that one person at least is the one asking for it and may or may not need it,” Maidy said. “It gets rid of a little ambiguity and gives a little more clarification.”

The assembly voted unanimously to approve the language change.

Earlier in the meeting, assembly member Tom Morphet wanted police to respond only to an “imminent threat to human life.” He said providing police response to issues such as “public health” and traffic patrols based on a perceived “need” constituted government overreach. “I think from our conversations out the highway, people say, ‘Yes, when I have a direct threat to my life or the life of another person I want a policeman,” Morphet said. “They don’t want a policeman out there assessing public health. That could be extended to anything…This is exactly the overreach that I think people are afraid of.”

Only addressing a threat to human life hamstrings response options and could restrict reports such as drunk driving, Maidy said.

The assembly will have to address an increase in police funding should “the police have full latitude to spend their time running up and down the highway,” assembly member Tresham Gregg said.

In the original ordinance, a property tax levy of .72 mills would pay for on-call services that police chief Heath Scott estimated to cost about $70,000 annually.

The assembly voted 3-3 against Morphet’s proposal, with members Heather Lende, Stephanie Scott and Maidy opposed. Mayor Jan Hill broke the tie.

The assembly also voted for an amendment to allow area residents to make up a board of directors for each police service area. The public safety commission served as the board under in the original ordinance.

The assembly postponed indefinitely a different ballot measure proposal that would let voters choose to expand full police powers boroughwide.

“Warm and fuzzy” ordinance language describing police duties was too ambiguous, Mosquito Lake resident Judy Rogers said during public comment. The draft ordinance eliminated current language describing police duties, adding that the police department shall “work collaboratively with the community to uphold community values...” Rogers asked who would be responsible for defining such values, and how would police enforce them.

“Ambiguity allows for government overreach as authorities, being human, tend to want to expand their powers as time goes on,” Rogers said.

Assembly member Stephanie Scott last month proposed the change to the borough charter, but Tuesday made the motion to postpone the ordinance, which the assembly unanimously accepted. Some members of the public said putting both ordinances on the ballot made little sense because allowing the entire borough to vote would override a vote on separate police service areas. “I agree the two actions can’t be on the same vote,” Scott said. “It would make no sense. I think it’s wise to remove this one at this time.”

Paul Nelson, Carol Tuynman and Janis Merriman were critical of both ordinances during the public hearings.

From 2014 to 2016, the Alaska State Troopers received an average of 46 calls for service in the Chilkat Valley each year that were criminal and an average of 220 calls that were non-criminal, according to AST data.

Criminal calls outside the townsite directed to Haines Police in the past six months included one report of child abuse, three reports of assault or domestic violence, two reports of driving while intoxicated, six reports of theft, three reports of harassment and two reports of trespass. Subtracting calls for burn permits, residents logged 158 calls from January through June of this year, although not all of those were of a criminal nature. Non-criminal calls included 23 ambulance calls, 19 vehicle stops, seven wildlife calls, and eight 911 hang-ups, according to police data. Not including burn permits, Haines Highway residents account for 57 percent of the non-townsite calls to police in the past six months.

The debate over police expansion began in 2017 when the state troopers moved its trooper position from Haines to western Alaska. State trooper officials have maintained that borough-wide police protection is the municipality’s responsibility.

Haines Police powers are funded and limited to operate within the townsite, according to borough charter.