The Indian Law and Order Commission’s report to the President and Congress, which singled out Alaska for special attention, is a call to action. The report accurately portrays the conundrum that in a wealthy state, rural Alaskans suffer from the highest suicide rates, the highest alcohol rates, and a lack of functional law enforcement and judicial services in their own communities. These conditions are a tragedy for Alaska and are simply unacceptable.
The most fundamental responsibility of any government is its duty to protect the safety and welfare of its residents. Alaska cannot exist as two separate peoples, one urban with the best of social services and law enforcement, the other rural with little or no law enforcement and few social services. We can no longer neglect the half of Alaska with the greatest need for alcohol and health services, for law enforcement, and for equal treatment as Alaskans.
What can we do about it? Many of the proposals in the Report involve amendments to federal law that only Congress can make. But, as Governor of Alaska, my focus will be to fully explore every opportunity under existing State law—and, as necessary, to seek changes in State law—to create a different and healthier dynamic with local communities.
Central to this re-calibration is a renewal of the state’s recognition of tribal governments in Alaska. Instead of viewing tribes with suspicion as competitors, the State should honor them as partners in providing, in the words of the Report, “more cost effective and responsive alternatives to prevent crime and keep all Alaskans safer.” Working together, we can accomplish these essential goals while respecting the civil and legal rights of all Alaskans.
I take to heart the specific recommendations of the Commission to the State that it explored:
Collaborating with Tribes on criminal justice issues,
Authorizing Tribes to provide a wide array of criminal justice services,
Expanding the use of traditional dispute resolution,
Leveraging the State and Tribal governments’ jurisdiction to develop specific, locally optimal criminal justice approaches,
Adopting a policy of increased State deference to Tribal authority in Tribal communities.
The Indian Law and Order Commission’s report is only the latest in a number of reports that have highlighted the challenges of justice in rural and tribal Alaska. I especially call attention to the Alaska Rural Justice and Law Enforcement Commission, established by Congress under the sponsorship of Senator Ted Stevens, whose detailed initial recommendations in 2006 are equally relevant today. The Alaska commission called upon the State to:
Engage in more partnering and collaboration,
Make systemic changes to improve rural law enforcement,
Enlarge the use of community-based solutions,
Broaden the use of prevention approaches,
Broaden the use of therapeutic approaches,
Increase employment of rural residents in law enforcement and judicial services,
Build additional capacity in rural Alaska,
Increase access to judicial services and,
Expand the use of new technologies.
As a State, we can create a new and powerful dimension to the daily life of all of our citizens by working closely with tribal and other local governments to insure that every Alaskan man, woman and child - in every city, town, and village across Alaska – lives in safety and without fear.