By Tom Morphet
An unwillingness by the community to address the prevalence of alcohol
and tolerance of youth lawlessness are among the biggest challenges facing the Haines
force, outgoing chief Greg Goodman said in an interview last week.
Goodman, a cop for 29 years, served 17 on the Haines force, including
the past nine as chief. His last day of work was April 2. He also worked as police chief
in Kake, and for departments in Susanville, Calif. and Kemmerer, Wyo.
Haines’ postcard image isn’t what he saw day-to-day, Goodman
said. "The Haines I worked in isn’t the idyllic place most people think it is.
There is an ugly underside. There’s spousal abuse, child abuse, child sexual assault,
alcoholism, drug abuse, wasted lives."
There’s also an anti-police mentality in Alaska at large, he said.
"A lot of people who come to Alaska like the open spaces, the freedom, the relative
lack of control."
Asked to identify problem areas for police, Goodman said: "I think
the bar owners think that they run the town. I think there’s too much alcohol in
town. I think there’s too many people dependent on alcohol for their
livelihood."
"I drink myself, but most of the problems we deal with come out of
the bars, in one way, form or another. It may not be direct. It may be somebody goes home
and gets in a wreck, or somebody goes home and beats up their wife or somebody goes home
and can’t afford the rent because they’ve drank it all away. It’s sad to
watch… I think there’s an unwillingness in (local) government to confront
that."
As an example, he pointed to the case of officer Howie Martindale,
whose aggressive enforcement, including of drunk drivers, prompted an inquiry by the city
council while Goodman was chief.
"They basically ran that guy out of town, and that was a subgroup
of the bars that organized and said, ‘We’re not going to put up with this. How
dare he?’ But it proved to me there’s definitely a problem in this town. He
arrested more drunk drivers himself in three months than the entire department arrested in
one year," Goodman said.
Restricting bar hours and opting out of a state law that allows minors
in bars with parents until 10 p.m. would be a start toward reducing alcohol’s grip on
the community, Goodman said.
With no around-the-clock businesses in town, a 5 a.m. bar closing time
is "ridiculous," he said. He also questioned having minors in bars. "What
is with that? Is that so they can go in with mom and dad and watch them get drunk and
listen to other boneheads cuss and scream? It’s not an environment for a kid."
Goodman said he didn’t advocate those issues as chief because he
considered them already decided. "There’s certain battles you fight, and ones
you don’t. After the Martindale thing, I thought, why bother? My job could be in
jeopardy."
Goodman, who grew up in San Francisco, said he’s never in his life
seen more disrespect for adults and authority by juveniles than in Haines. "I
don’t say this lightly: There are a lot of kids in this town who are just, plain out
of control, and you see that in the numbers of vandalism, thefts and burglaries we have,
the numbers of accidents and drunk driving arrests we have of young people."
The community tolerates lawlessness by young adults, he said.
"The fact that everybody in town knows that the kids can go out of
town and party out the highway, and nothing is being done. There’s no outrage.
There’s no community support for any police action. There’s nothing. You have to
ask yourself, ‘What are parents thinking?’ Oh, my son didn’t come home last
night, or, ‘He came home at 3 a.m. and I heard him slamming around in the
house.’ What are they thinking?"
Lack of parental support often becomes parental condemnation of police,
he said. "Parents say that we’re just picking on their kids. Their kids are good
kids. It’s just the police’s fault that they are the way they are. We’re
targeting their child."
Goodman holds a dim view of ideas like recreation centers to keep kids
from getting into trouble. "The kids who need it the most aren’t going to go.
The issue is parenting."
Goodman also faulted local elected leaders for circumventing procedures
for complaints about police, including one instance where a tape-recording verified an
officer’s account of an incident, but the leader refused to listen to it.
"We get police officers in Haines who want to do the job, but they
don’t feel the support they need to do it, that if they push the wrong buttons or
arrest the wrong people, they’re doing the wrong thing… I don’t see elected
officials stepping up to the plate and saying, ‘Wait a minute. This officer is doing
their job.’"
Despite figures showing the U.S. leads other first-world nations in
percentage of population behind bars, Goodman said the Alaska justice system doesn’t
lock up enough criminals.
"I don’t think we incarcerate enough. I see people that we
deal with, repeat offenders, time and time again go through a revolving door. Be charged
with something, be released on conditions, violate those conditions, get re-arrested,
re-released, and re-arrested over and over and over again, with no consequences."
Goodman said bails often aren’t set high enough. Also, the
job’s biggest frustration is putting together a solid case that isn’t
prosecuted, which he said happens when prosecutors are forced to choose between cases due
to tight budgets. "Part of it is our fault for not funding the machine."
Goodman said managing the police department was the least fun part of
the job for him. There were personnel issues, complicated by a high turnover rate.
"You spend a lot of time on it. Retention is the biggest problem facing the
department." Including officer turnover, training, vacation and sick time, the
five-man force often operates with just four officers, leading to burnout.
Goodman said he’s made suggestions to the mayor to address
turnover, including creating incentives for officers to stay in Haines. "At the end
of five years, give them a $5,000 a year pay increase. At the end of 10 years, give them
another one. People are more likely to stay if they have something to look forward
to."
Haines police pay is still near the bottom in Alaska, he said. The town
can’t compete with police pay in bigger cities, that starts an average $5 an hour
more than pay here. "An Anchorage patrolman with seniority makes more pay than I
do."
Goodman has turned over to officer Jason Joel work on the unsolved
slaying of teenager Eileen Wafer, a case dating to 1982. Goodman reopened the case in
recent years, using DNA evidence.
There are also two federal cases in the works, involving the postal
inspector, Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Goodman said he expected arrests in those cases this summer.
Goodman said he’s been gratified on the job by compliments
he’s received from residents. "It’s a series of thank-you’s that might
not necessarily be put as a thank-you, when you know people are pleased by what
you’ve done for them. People say, ‘I don’t know how you do it. I’d
never have your job.’ To me that’s a thank-you."
Asked his proudest accomplishment, Goodman said: "I managed to
keep a marginal working force together to get the job done. We kept a lid on things."
An unwillingness by the community to address the prevalence of alcohol
and tolerance of youth lawlessness are among the biggest challenges facing the Haines
force, outgoing chief Greg Goodman said in an interview last week.
Goodman, a cop for 29 years, served 17 on the Haines force, including
the past nine as chief. His last day of work was April 2. He also worked as police chief
in Kake, and for departments in Susanville, Calif. and Kemmerer, Wyo.
Haines’ postcard image isn’t what he saw day-to-day, Goodman
said. "The Haines I worked in isn’t the idyllic place most people think it is.
There is an ugly underside. There’s spousal abuse, child abuse, child sexual assault,
alcoholism, drug abuse, wasted lives."
There’s also an anti-police mentality in Alaska at large, he said.
"A lot of people who come to Alaska like the open spaces, the freedom, the relative
lack of control."
Asked to identify problem areas for police, Goodman said: "I think
the bar owners think that they run the town. I think there’s too much alcohol in
town. I think there’s too many people dependent on alcohol for their
livelihood."
"I drink myself, but most of the problems we deal with come out of
the bars, in one way, form or another. It may not be direct. It may be somebody goes home
and gets in a wreck, or somebody goes home and beats up their wife or somebody goes home
and can’t afford the rent because they’ve drank it all away. It’s sad to
watch… I think there’s an unwillingness in (local) government to confront
that."
As an example, he pointed to the case of officer Howie Martindale,
whose aggressive enforcement, including of drunk drivers, prompted an inquiry by the city
council while Goodman was chief.
"They basically ran that guy out of town, and that was a subgroup
of the bars that organized and said, ‘We’re not going to put up with this. How
dare he?’ But it proved to me there’s definitely a problem in this town. He
arrested more drunk drivers himself in three months than the entire department arrested in
one year," Goodman said.
Restricting bar hours and opting out of a state law that allows minors
in bars with parents until 10 p.m. would be a start toward reducing alcohol’s grip on
the community, Goodman said.
With no around-the-clock businesses in town, a 5 a.m. bar closing time
is "ridiculous," he said. He also questioned having minors in bars. "What
is with that? Is that so they can go in with mom and dad and watch them get drunk and
listen to other boneheads cuss and scream? It’s not an environment for a kid."
Goodman said he didn’t advocate those issues as chief because he
considered them already decided. "There’s certain battles you fight, and ones
you don’t. After the Martindale thing, I thought, why bother? My job could be in
jeopardy."
Goodman, who grew up in San Francisco, said he’s never in his life
seen more disrespect for adults and authority by juveniles than in Haines. "I
don’t say this lightly: There are a lot of kids in this town who are just, plain out
of control, and you see that in the numbers of vandalism, thefts and burglaries we have,
the numbers of accidents and drunk driving arrests we have of young people."
The community tolerates lawlessness by young adults, he said.
"The fact that everybody in town knows that the kids can go out of
town and party out the highway, and nothing is being done. There’s no outrage.
There’s no community support for any police action. There’s nothing. You have to
ask yourself, ‘What are parents thinking?’ Oh, my son didn’t come home last
night, or, ‘He came home at 3 a.m. and I heard him slamming around in the
house.’ What are they thinking?"
Lack of parental support often becomes parental condemnation of police,
he said. "Parents say that we’re just picking on their kids. Their kids are good
kids. It’s just the police’s fault that they are the way they are. We’re
targeting their child."
Goodman holds a dim view of ideas like recreation centers to keep kids
from getting into trouble. "The kids who need it the most aren’t going to go.
The issue is parenting."
Goodman also faulted local elected leaders for circumventing procedures
for complaints about police, including one instance where a tape-recording verified an
officer’s account of an incident, but the leader refused to listen to it.
"We get police officers in Haines who want to do the job, but they
don’t feel the support they need to do it, that if they push the wrong buttons or
arrest the wrong people, they’re doing the wrong thing… I don’t see elected
officials stepping up to the plate and saying, ‘Wait a minute. This officer is doing
their job.’"
Despite figures showing the U.S. leads other first-world nations in
percentage of population behind bars, Goodman said the Alaska justice system doesn’t
lock up enough criminals.
"I don’t think we incarcerate enough. I see people that we
deal with, repeat offenders, time and time again go through a revolving door. Be charged
with something, be released on conditions, violate those conditions, get re-arrested,
re-released, and re-arrested over and over and over again, with no consequences."
Goodman said bails often aren’t set high enough. Also, the
job’s biggest frustration is putting together a solid case that isn’t
prosecuted, which he said happens when prosecutors are forced to choose between cases due
to tight budgets. "Part of it is our fault for not funding the machine."
Goodman said managing the police department was the least fun part of
the job for him. There were personnel issues, complicated by a high turnover rate.
"You spend a lot of time on it. Retention is the biggest problem facing the
department." Including officer turnover, training, vacation and sick time, the
five-man force often operates with just four officers, leading to burnout.
Goodman said he’s made suggestions to the mayor to address
turnover, including creating incentives for officers to stay in Haines. "At the end
of five years, give them a $5,000 a year pay increase. At the end of 10 years, give them
another one. People are more likely to stay if they have something to look forward
to."
Haines police pay is still near the bottom in Alaska, he said. The town
can’t compete with police pay in bigger cities, that starts an average $5 an hour
more than pay here. "An Anchorage patrolman with seniority makes more pay than I
do."
Goodman has turned over to officer Jason Joel work on the unsolved
slaying of teenager Eileen Wafer, a case dating to 1982. Goodman reopened the case in
recent years, using DNA evidence.
There are also two federal cases in the works, involving the postal
inspector, Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Goodman said he expected arrests in those cases this summer.
Goodman said he’s been gratified on the job by compliments
he’s received from residents. "It’s a series of thank-you’s that might
not necessarily be put as a thank-you, when you know people are pleased by what
you’ve done for them. People say, ‘I don’t know how you do it. I’d
never have your job.’ To me that’s a thank-you."
Asked his proudest accomplishment, Goodman said: "I managed to
keep a marginal working force together to get the job done. We kept a lid on things."
