State’s safest town? Police tout rating
The Haines Borough Police Department this week touted a ranking of the municipality as the “safest town in Alaska,” posting a “Five Safest Cities” badge to its Facebook page.
SafeWise, a private company that allows users to compare home security systems, developed a list of the top five safest cities in Alaska with populations above 2,000. The company used the most recent FBI Crime Report statistics, which are from 2012.
The rankings are based on frequency of violent crime (rape, murder, robbery) and frequency of property crimes (burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson). According to SafeWise, 1.54 out of every 1,000 people in Haines experienced a violent crime; 10.83 out of every 1,000 people experienced a property crime.
As the rankings are based on 2012 statistics, the spike in thefts and burglaries that occurred in 2013 and 2014 are not taken into account.
Haines police chief Bill Musser recently compiled crime statistics for the past six years. In 2012, police reported 25 thefts and two burglaries. In 2013, there were 48 thefts and 12 burglaries. In 2014, thefts neared the six-year average at 23, but burglaries remained above the average, at six.
Musser also recently provided “raw” numbers to the assembly in his report, which are higher than numbers sent to the Alaska Department of Public Safety and FBI Uniform Crime Report. The raw data provided by Musser (and included in the attached chart) represents calls for service, and provides a “snapshot” of the types of calls the department receives, he said.
“The raw data is what we get called about (calls for service), but does not necessarily represent what is reported as crime,” Musser said. “That is why our tracked activities (calls for service) is different from the UCR submissions. Activity does not always equal a UCR crime. This is not just a Haines thing, as departments track their activities and their UCR crime throughout the country.”
For example, some people call to report an attempted break-in or theft, but don’t want to initiate a case and just want police to be aware of the issue, Musser said. That sort of call would be reflected in the raw data, but not the UCR report, he said.
In his recent “raw data” report, Musser also included numbers for fraud, domestic violence assault, criminal mischief and sexual abuse of a minor reports. Those types of crimes were not taken into account by SafeWise.
The next four safest towns, according to SafeWise, are Wrangell, Unalaska, Sitka and Nome.
15ish years ago
Autopsy finds H1N1 caused woman’s death
A state medical examiner found complications of swine flu caused the death of a 19-year-old Haines woman in Juneau on Nov. 22.
Cynthia Phillips was the 12th death in Alaska associated with the flu strain and appears to be one of only a couple of H1N1 deaths in Alaska that didn’t involve a chronic, pre-existing health condition that aggravated the flu.
Phillips had been suffering from a respiratory ailment for several days at the time of her death.
25 years ago
Scientist in Yukon collect meteor data
A leading Canadian astronomer said the meteor witnessed by many Haines and Klukwan residents in the early morning on Jan. 18 likely weighed as much as 80 tons, was 12 to 15 feet wide, and was traveling 45,000 to 65,000 miles per hour when it exploded 15 miles in the air above Carcross.
The meteor lit up the sky over a wide area of northern Southeast Alaska and Southern Yukon, including the Chilkat Valley.
It was seen best in the Carcross Valley south of Whitehorse, where pieces of the object are believed to have reached the earth.
University of Western Ontario professor of astronomy and physics Dr. Peter Brown told the Whitehorse Star last week the event was the most significant meteoric incident in the world over the past 10 years, and in the last 100 years over Canada.
Brown is in Whitehorse through March to gather eyewitness accounts from people along the Klondike Highway, roughly where the meteor passed.
The accounts will be used to better determine the trajectory of the object and ultimately its origin in space.
40 years ago
Klukwan acquires a VPSO
Be it for medical emergency or social disruption, Klukwan has taken one step closer to being able to cope with the unexpected.
Gary Davidson, a five-year resident of Klukwan, has been appointed Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) for the village. Such a position entails responsibility for first-on-the-scene response to emergency situations.
“It’s a long way for a state trooper to come,” explained Davidson. “A lot can be done to stabilize a situation in that time.”
Davidson is not a newcomer to many of these situations. He has served on the ambulance crew, and as assistant fire chief in Cordova for two years, and since 1979 as fire chief in Klukwan. Such experience has earned him the titles of Firefighter I and EMT.
“My primary love is firefighting and EMT. The other part can be rather unpleasant. I’ll be giving a lot of attention to preventative programs, for instance a fire prevention program at the school.”
Davidson worked as VPSO for a month before going down to Sitka where he attended the Public Safety Academy for six weeks in November and December.
Studies there covered Alaska laws and enforcement techniques, self-defense and refresher courses in EMT to get recertified.
Next month training continues in Anchorage, with a two-week course in rural firefighting.
“It’ll be a full time job for me,” explained Davidson. “I’ll be on duty 37 ½ hours a week and I’ll be on call 24 hours a day.”
Actually this job will be one Davidson can’t avoid taking home with him.
“I’ll be working out of home for the time being,” he said. “We’re trying to get a public safety building out here, to house the fire truck and a public safety office, but that may take a while. Right now our trucks are in a small building where it’s pretty cold.”
Davidson volunteered for his new position and was then selected by a joint division of State Troopers, the Klukwan Village Council, and Tlingit-Haida council. VPSOs are financed by the state through non-profit organizations like Tlingit-Haida council. This past year one village discontinued their program and Klukwan was next on the list.
Davidson has a wife and two children and has no intention of leaving Klukwan. “Becoming a VPSO can be considered a step towards becoming a State Trooper or a constable, but personally this is as far as I want to go. My main intent is to keep a positive attitude in guarding people’s safety and in protecting people and their property from others. I’m basically a person concerned with these areas of public safety.”
Someday one might see Davidson driving around Klukwan in an official VPSO vehicle, but that won’t be until the state considers Klukwan’s special need. The VPSO program is designed for bush villages where traffic is nonexistent. The academy didn’t offer any traffic training so Davidson is working with State Trooper Quentin Higgins to learn those skills.
