Juneau Police Department Police Chief Bryce Johnson said he isn’t trying to hide anything from the community: crime is on the rise, but that shouldn’t be an indicator that police aren’t working to change that trend.
“There’s never nothing we can do, but also we can’t do everything,” Johnson said on Thursday during the Juneau Chamber of Commerce weekly luncheon at the Moose Lodge. Johnson rehashed the “difficult” news of 2015’s crime report that revealed serious crime in Alaska’s capital increased by 39.59 percent, with homicides, rapes, robberies and assaults reaching five-year highs.
“(That trend) wasn’t just a spike, those numbers are continuing this year, except for the murder rate,” Johnson said. As previously reported by the Empire, JPD has also seen a rise in burglaries. As of June 30, 113 burglaries were reported, which puts the town on track for the most burglaries recorded in more than a decade.
But Johnson said another important figure is seven — that’s how many arrests for burglaries the department has made in about a month. He said he hopes that information puts to rest rumors around town that police aren’t responding to residential burglaries or other property crime issues. He said police are also nearing the end of their investigation for the only open homicide case from November 2015, when a local couple was murdered in Douglas. But that doesn’t mean things will be back to normal.
Senate Bill 91, an overhaul of the criminal justice system in Alaska, has changed how police are investigating and handling other crimes such as drug dealing and possession, he said. First-time possession of narcotics is no longer a felony and the amount an offender has to be holding for felony distribution just means dealers will walk around with less on their person to avoid serious charges, Johnson said. Dealing with people who are arrested for possession — and making sure they don’t become repeat or more severe offenders — is now an issue for the community since “straight to prison” is no longer the answer, he said.
“That’s something the community is going to have to do something about. … That’s what the law envisions,” Johnson said, referring to the need for more rehabilitation options in town. “There’s been no appetite for years (by the police department) to incarcerate people for possession of drugs. … We want to deal with drugs in a different way.”
Assembly member Mary Becker asked Johnson how the rising crime rates are affecting police safety. He said officer safety is much better in Juneau than other areas around the country where solo patrols are just not plausible.
A development that could soon increase police and community safety is body cameras for police, which Johnson said are just the way of the future. The department has a body camera style in mind that they would like to purchase for the department, but it’s a matter of finances. At this point, he’s not sure when there will be enough funds for cameras for approximately 50 officers.
When cameras do make their way here, Johnson said it could help crime rates because “people are better behaved when they’re on camera.”
• Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or paula.solis@juneauempire.com.
