State wildlife trooper Trent Chwialkowski will leave Haines before summer for a post in Cantwell, Alaska.

“No decision or change has been made in regards to the Haines Alaska Wildlife Trooper post,” said Department of Public Safety spokesperson Megan Peters. “At present, all one-man trooper posts are being analyzed.”

A “blue shirt” trooper position in Haines was eliminated in 2017, when state budget cuts moved the position to Bethel, an area with increasing felony crimes.

Peters said new Department of Public Safety Commissioner Amanda Price does not believe one-man posts are in the best interests of a community or the sole trooper serving in them. “In some areas, a trooper may be added. In others, it may mean no change at all or a post closure,” she said.

Haines Police Chief Heath Scott said the subtext of Price’s comments may indicate that the Department of Public Safety won’t fill Chwialkowski’s post in Haines, but instead serve the borough through a trooper posting in Juneau.

“(Price) doesn’t agree (with)single trooper posts. She is not returning a blue shirt here,” Scott said.

On Feb. 12, borough manager Debra Schnabel met with Price to discuss reinstating a blue shirt position in the Haines Borough. Schnabel reported that it is unlikely Haines will regain a blue shirt trooper due to the agency’s limited resources and greater need in other areas.

Peters said that the majority of calls to state troopers for service outside of the townsite area were non-criminal according to agency data.

“Other areas of the state, specifically Western Alaska, have a much higher rate of crimes against people and felony level crimes than Haines,” she said.

A ballot proposition to create on-call police service areas in Mud Bay, Lutak and the Upper Valley failed at the polls in October, but many residents asked the assembly to continue lobbying for a trooper replacement.

The primary mission of a blue shirt is to maintain public order and enforce criminal laws, as compared to a brown shirt’s to patrol commercial big game services, fishing and trapping, according to the Department of Public Safety’s website. But Schnabel heard from Price that the department is moving towards blending duties and prioritizing public safety.

Wildlife Trooper Colonel Doug Massie is expected to visit Haines and speak with the assembly in March, Scott said.

As he sets the police budget for 2019, Scott said that policing outside the townsite service area is a one of his main concerns, an issue that would become exacerbated if Haines were to lose its brown shirt post.

Scott said that the assembly has to weigh its options and determine an appropriate budget. “You could do nothing, you could take over complete responsibility (of policing outside of the service area), or you could continue (only dealing with) emergencies,” he said. “But the latter two would still require a budget.”

Chwialkowski was transferred to Haines in April 2016 from a post in Homer. Prior to his arrival, the position was vacant for nearly a year due to state budget cuts.

At Tuesday’s assembly meeting, Schnabel said she thinks the Haines Borough might have the opportunity to partner with the Department of Public Safety for financial support for sending the Haines Police outside of its own jurisdiction.

Assembly member Brenda Josephson suggested enacting a previously discussed trooper committee to look at solutions for the police service area, now that Gov. Mike Dunleavy has released the state budget. Josephson, assembly member Tom Morphet and Mayor Jan Hill volunteered to be on the committee.

Morphet said he expects they will discuss committee structure at their first meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, March 6 at 6:30 p.m.

Chwialkowski did not respond to CVN calls for comment before press time. He is slated to leave in May or June.

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