PUBLIC SAFETY IN

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson

Alaska Day 2019 Follow-up: Public Safety June 6, 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

U.S. Attorney General Barr’s visit to Alaska 5 U.S. Attorney General William Barr says he’s struck by ‘sense of urgency’ on Alaska rural crime crisis

As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’

AFN Public Safety Issues 23

Alaska State Defense Force (Plan for Growth) 35

Alaska Day Briefing on Public Safety 79

3

U.S. Attorney General Barr’s visit to Alaska

5

6/4/2019 U.S. Attorney General William Barr says he’s struck by ‘sense of urgency’ on Alaska rural crime crisis - Anchorage Daily News

Crime & Courts U.S. Attorney General William Barr says he’s struck by ‘sense of urgency’ on Alaska rural crime crisis

Author: Kyle Hopkins Updated: 3 days ago Published 4 days ago

Alaska State Crime Lab manager Orin Dym gives U.S. Attorney General William Barr a tour of the Buy This Photo evidence storage area of the facility Thursday. Behind Dym are shipping boxes containing 180 untested rape kits, which will be sent to a contractor for processing. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

On his way to tour the indoor shooting range at the Alaska state crime lab in Anchorage on Thursday, U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr walked through a sterile room stacked with rape kits. Anchorage police send 25 kits — textbook-sized collections of notes and DNA samples from victims of sexual assaults for use as evidence in criminal cases — here each week for testing, lab chief Orin Dym told him. Other evidence boxes are decades old.

“We go as far back 30 years,” Dym said. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2019/05/31/would-us-attorney-general-barr-support-tribal-courts-im-open-to-all-ideas/ 1/3

7 6/4/2019 U.S. Attorney General William Barr says he’s struck by ‘sense of urgency’ on Alaska rural crime crisis - Anchorage Daily News In a state with a sexual assault rate that is the highest in the nation and rising, Barr is nearing the end of a four- day visit to Anchorage, Bethel and two rural villages at the invitation of U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan. The goal: Introduce the chief of the federal government to the unique problems of Alaska, up close and as described by survivors, Alaska Native leaders and frontline first-responders.

Barr said he was struck by the sense of urgency and the “range of ideas” he heard in a roundtable talk with Native representatives of 13 regions who described a shortage of police, prosecutors and public safety infrastructure in the Bush.

KerriKupecDOJ @KerriKupecDOJ

6/4/2019Sometimes plansU.S. Attorney change General and William you Barr have says he’ tos struck take by a‘sense military of urgency’ on Alaska rural crime crisis - Anchorage Daily News “I’vtransporte heard a n planeumber toof yourspeci fnextic pro round-tableposals that ar discussion.en’t necessar iThanksly resour force i ntensive. But obviously money is an imptheorta lift,nt p @artAKNationalGuard of the solution,” Ba!r r# tAdventuresWithAGBarrold the Daily News after a 90-minute tour of the crime lab Thursday. “The imp@orTheJusticeDepttant thing is to figure out where we are headed, where those resources are going to be spent and what kind of syste13.9Km they5:30 are g PMoin g- Mayto su 30,ppo 2019rt.”

Several6,866 regio npeopleal lead areers talkingcalled o aboutn Bar rthis to support and expand efforts to allow village tribal courts to handle certain criminal cases. A pilot program in the U.S. House version of Violence Against Women Act would hand such authority to up to five villages. Tanana Chiefs Conference Chairman Victor Joseph said the idea should be expanded to as many as 100 communities where the populations are mostly Alaska Native. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2019/05/31/would-us-attorney-general-barr-support-tribal-courts-im-open-to-all-ideas/ 2/3

In a brief interview, Barr did not rule out Department of Justice support for tribal court authority.

8 “When I was up at Galena I heard about some of the tribal courts and what they’re up to,” Barr said. “I need to explore that further. Exactly, where they are functioning and what their record is. But as I said today up in Galena, I’m open to all ideas.”

Barr is expected to visited Bethel and possibly the nearby village of Napaskiak today. This story will be updated with reports from Western Alaska as Barr meets with service providers and residents.

About this Author

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins is special projects editor of the Anchorage Daily News. In 2019 he is working with ProPublica on a yearlong project as part of the Local Reporng Network, and is a recipient of the Online News Associaon / Google News Iniave Journalism 360 Challenge. Contact him at [email protected].

Comments

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2019/05/31/would-us-attorney-general-barr-support-tribal-courts-im-open-to-all-ideas/ 3/3 6/4/2019 U.S. Attorney General William Barr says he’s struck by ‘sense of urgency’ on Alaska rural crime crisis - Anchorage Daily News “I’ve heard a number of specific proposals that aren’t necessarily resource intensive. But obviously money is an important part of the solution,” Barr told the Daily News after a 90-minute tour of the crime lab Thursday. “The important thing is to figure out where we are headed, where those resources are going to be spent and what kind of system they are going to support.”

Several regional leaders called on Barr to support and expand efforts to allow village tribal courts to handle certain criminal cases. A pilot program in the U.S. House version of Violence Against Women Act would hand such authority to up to five villages. Tanana Chiefs Conference Chairman Victor Joseph said the idea should be expanded to as many as 100 communities where the populations are mostly Alaska Native.

In a brief interview, Barr did not rule out Department of Justice support for tribal court authority.

“When I was up at Galena I heard about some of the tribal courts and what they’re up to,” Barr said. “I need to explore that further. Exactly, where they are functioning and what their record is. But as I said today up in Galena, I’m open to all ideas.”

Barr is expected to visited Bethel and possibly the nearby village of Napaskiak today. This story will be updated with reports from Western Alaska as Barr meets with service providers and residents.

About this Author

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins is special projects editor of the Anchorage Daily News. In 2019 he is working with ProPublica on a yearlong project as part of the Local Reporng Network, and is a recipient of the Online News Associaon / Google News Iniave Journalism 360 Challenge. Contact him at [email protected].

Comments

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2019/05/31/would-us-attorney-general-barr-support-tribal-courts-im-open-to-all-ideas/ 3/3

9 6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News

6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News

As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney gAesn heera vli csiatlsl sa p Kuubslkico skawfeimty Riniv reurr vaill Alalgaes,k tah aen U ‘.eSm. aetrtgoernnceyy’ general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ Attorney General William Barr vowed to address the lack of police and high rates of crime in rural Alaska villages following a

Attorney General William Barr vowed to address the latcoku ro fo pf othliec es taanted. high rates of crime in rural Alaska villages following a

tour of the state. Author: Alex DeMarban Published 3 days ago

Author: Alex DeMarban Published 3 days ago

6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News

NAPASKIAK — In a Western Alaska village at the end of a multi-day swing through the state, U.S. Attorney General William Barr called the lack of police and high rates of violence and sex crimes in rural Alaska an “NeAmPeArSgKenIAcyK” — an Idn vao Wwesdt etorn d Ao leavsekray vthililnag eh aet c tahne teon fdig ohft a t hmeu pltrio-bdlaeym s.wing through the state, U.S. Attorney General William Barr called the lack of police and high rates of violence and sex crimes in rural Alaska an “emergency” and vowed to do everything he can to fight the problem. He made the statement after traveling on the Kuskokwim River by boat from Bethel, the largest community in Western Alaska. Napaskiak leaders pressed for more federal support for police and tribal courts to stop a scourge Hofe a mlcaodheo lt-hree lsattaetde mdeeantth asf atenrd t hraigvhel irnagte os no ft hseu iKciudsek,o kkiwllinmg sR aivnedr dboy mboeasti fcr ovimol Benecthe.el, the largest community in WAesste rhn Aela svkai. sNaiptassk iaak lKeaduers pkreossked wfor immore fRedeirvale surp pvorit lfolra poglicee ,a ntdh trieba lU cou.rSts. t oa stotp oa srconuregey of alcohol-related deaths and high rates of suicide, killings and domestic violence. g“Wee need rhealpl. Wcea mlalys b ep thue pboolreisct pseoaplfe eantdy th ei nee drieustr paeolpl eA, bulta wse kmatt ear,"n vil l‘aegem tribeal rchgieef Sntepchyen’ Maxie Jr. said in an impassioned plea during a gathering in the school cafeteria. “We need help. We may be the poorest people and the neediest people, but we matter," village tribal chief Stephen Attorney General William Barr vowed to address the lack of police and high rates of crime in rural Alaska villages following a Maxie Jr. said in an impassioned plea during a gathering in the school cafeteria. Barr committed to doing everything he can to help the village and other rural regions in Alaska. tour of the state. Barr committed to doing everything he can to help the village and other rural regions in Alaska. “I understand when you say enou gAhu tihs oern: oAulgehx ,D” eBMarar rsbaaidn t o ab oPuutb 7li5sh reeds i3d ednatyss. “aTgohese problems have been known for a long time. Now we have to try and deliver some solutions.” “I understand when you say enough is enough,” Barr said to about 75 residents. “These problems have been known for a long time. Now we have to try and deliver some solutions.” ['Enough is enough': Alaska Native leaders call on Attorney General Barr for help, tribal authority to make up for lack of police] ['Enough is enough': Alaska Native leaders call on Attorney General Barr for help, tribal authority to make up for lack of police] The attorney general said his trip to Alaska was his first to a state in three months on the job. He chose rural NAlAaPskAaS KbeIAcaKu —se Ihne a p Wreefesrtes rtno Aadladsrkeas sv ipllraogbele amst th weh eenrde tohf ea nmeuedltsi -adraey g srweaintegs th, hroeu sgahid t.he state, U.S. Attorney GThene eartatlo Wrnielyli agmen Beararrl scaildle hdi sth teri lpa ctok Aofl apsoklaic we aasn hdi sh ifgirhs tr atote as sotfa vteio ilne nthcer eaen md osenxt hcsr iomne tsh ien jroubr.a Hl Ae lcahsoksae a rnural “Aelmasekrag benecayu” saen hde v porweefedr sto t od oa dedvreersyst hpirnogb lheems ca wn htoe rfeig thhte t nhee pdrso abrle mgr.eatest, he said. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 1/4 https://wwwHe ma.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-riverde the statement after traveling on the Kuskokwim Ri-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emerver by boat from Bethel, the largest community in … 1/4 Western Alaska. Napaskiak leaders pressed for more federal support for police and tribal courts to stop a scourge of alcohol-related deaths and high rates of suicide, killings and domestic violence.

“We need help. We may be the poorest people and the ne10ediest people, but we matter," village tribal chief Stephen Maxie Jr. said in an impassioned plea during a gathering in the school cafeteria.

Barr committed to doing everything he can to help the village and other rural regions in Alaska.

“I understand when you say enough is enough,” Barr said to about 75 residents. “These problems have been known for a long time. Now we have to try and deliver some solutions.”

['Enough is enough': Alaska Native leaders call on Attorney General Barr for help, tribal authority to make up for lack of police]

The attorney general said his trip to Alaska was his first to a state in three months on the job. He chose rural Alaska because he prefers to address problems where the needs are greatest, he said.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 1/4 6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News

As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’

Attorney General William Barr vowed to address the lack of police and high rates of crime in rural Alaska villages following a

tour of the state.

Author: Alex DeMarban Published 3 days ago

NAPASKIAK — In a Western Alaska village at the end of a multi-day swing through the state, U.S. Attorney General William Barr called the lack of police and high rates of violence and sex crimes in rural Alaska an “emergency” and vowed to do everything he can to fight the problem.

He made the statement after traveling on the Kuskokwim River by boat from Bethel, the largest community in Western Alaska. Napaskiak leaders pressed for more federal support for police and tribal courts to stop a scourge of alcohol-related deaths and high rates of suicide, killings and domestic violence.

“We need help. We may be the poorest people and the neediest people, but we matter," village tribal chief Stephen Maxie Jr. said in an impassioned plea during a gathering in the school cafeteria.

Barr committed to doing everything he can to help the village and other rural regions in Alaska.

“I understand when you say enough is enough,” Barr said to about 75 residents. “These problems have been known for a long time. Now we have to try and deliver some solutions.”

['Enough is enough': Alaska Native leaders call on Attorney General Barr for help, tribal authority to make up for lack of police]

The attorney general said his trip to Alaska was his first to a state in three months on the job. He chose rural Alaska because he prefers to address problems where the needs are greatest, he said.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 1/4

11 6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News

As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’

Attorney General William Barr vowed to address the lack of police and high rates of crime in rural Alaska villages following a

tour of the state.

Author: Alex DeMarban Published 3 days ago

NAPASKIAK — In a Western Alaska village at the end of a multi-day swing through the state, U.S. Attorney General William Barr called the lack of police and high rates of violence and sex crimes in rural Alaska an “emergency” and vowed to do everything he can to fight the problem.

He made the statement after traveling on the Kuskokwim River by boat from Bethel, the largest community in Western Alaska. Napaskiak leaders pressed for more federal support for police and tribal courts to stop a scourge of alcohol-related deaths and high rates of suicide, killings and domestic violence.

“We need help. We may be the poorest people and the neediest people, but we matter," village tribal chief Stephen Maxie Jr. said in an impassioned plea during a gathering in the school cafeteria.

Barr committed to doing everything he can to help the village and other rural regions in Alaska.

“I understand when you say enough is enough,” Barr said to about 75 residents. “These problems have been known for a long time. Now we have to try and deliver some solutions.”

['Enough is enough': Alaska Native leaders call on Attorney General Barr for help, tribal authority to make up for lack of police]

The attorney general said his trip to Alaska was his first to a state in three months on the job. He chose rural Alaska because he prefers to address problems where the needs are greatest, he said. 6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News “It would be hard for me to imagine a more vulnerable population,” he told reporters earlier in the day. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 1/4

The attorney general’s trip began Wednesday in Anchorage, where Barr met with Native leaders from every region of Alaska. They proposed a statewide rural justice system that relies on tribal groups to provide police, court and victim’s services.

On Thursday, Barr visited the state crime lab in Anchorage, where he heard about a giant backlog of unprocessed rape kits, textbook-sized collections of notes and DNA samples from victims of sexual assaults for use as evidence in criminal cases. He also traveled to Galena, an Interior village.

But he saved his most remote traveling for Friday, arriving in Bethel with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, as host after she’d urged him to travel to the state to see the problems for himself. Bethel is a shopping and services hub to 48 villages, only six of them staffed by a state-supported Village Public Safety Officer, though some have 12 tribal or village police officers with less training.

[Lawless: One in three Alaska villages have no local police]

The security detail of FBI agents and Alaska State Troopers that rolled down Bethel’s dusty roads drew onlookers. One woman sat along the main road in a lawn chair, big plywood signs propped against her truck.

“Welcome to the wild wild west” and “Lawlessness, Politics, Not Justice,” the signs said.

Nikki Pollock said she wanted to remind Barr of the need for local police.

An investigation by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica has found one in three communities in Alaska, about 70 altogether and nearly all of them Alaska Native, had no local law enforcement at some point this year. Many are in regions with the highest rates of poverty, sexual assault and suicide in the .

Shortly after arriving in Bethel, Barr sat down with victim advocates from one of only two women’s shelters in the region. They described chronic staffing and money shortages that put women and children’s lives at risk from their abusers.

They told Barr the 30-bed shelter lacks the space to handle the need in the Southwest Alaska region, forcing children and women to often sleep on couches, inflatable mattresses, the floor.

“We do as much as we can. We’re creative," said Ina Mae Chaney, a case manager.

[More photos: U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Sen. Lisa Murkowski visit Western Alaska]

Funds exist to fly in women from other villages, but not to fly them back home, leaving some indefinitely stranded in Bethel, they said. A lack of housing in villages, and a lack of local officers and prosecutors, means some return to their abuser if they go back home. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 2/4 6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News “It would be hard for me to imagine a more vulnerable population,” he told reporters earlier in the day.

The attorney general’s trip began Wednesday in Anchorage, where Barr met with Native leaders from every region of Alaska. They proposed a statewide rural justice system that relies on tribal groups to provide police, court and victim’s services.

On Thursday, Barr visited the state crime lab in Anchorage, where he heard about a giant backlog of unprocessed rape kits, textbook-sized collections of notes and DNA samples from victims of sexual assaults for use as evidence in criminal cases. He also traveled to Galena, an Interior village.

But he saved his most remote traveling for Friday, arriving in Bethel with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, as host after she’d urged him to travel to the state to see the problems for himself. Bethel is a shopping and services hub to 48 villages, only six of them staffed by a state-supported Village Public Safety Officer, though some have tribal or village police officers with less training.

[Lawless: One in three Alaska villages have no local police]

The security detail of FBI agents and Alaska State Troopers that rolled down Bethel’s dusty roads drew onlookers. One woman sat along the main road in a lawn chair, big plywood signs propped against her truck.

“Welcome to the wild wild west” and “Lawlessness, Politics, Not Justice,” the signs said.

Nikki Pollock said she wanted to remind Barr of the need for local police.

An investigation by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica has found one in three communities in Alaska, about 70 altogether and nearly all of them Alaska Native13, had no local law enforcement at some point this year. Many are in regions with the highest rates of poverty, sexual assault and suicide in the United States.

Shortly after arriving in Bethel, Barr sat down with victim advocates from one of only two women’s shelters in the region. They described chronic staffing and money shortages that put women and children’s lives at risk from their abusers.

They told Barr the 30-bed shelter lacks the space to handle the need in the Southwest Alaska region, forcing children and women to often sleep on couches, inflatable mattresses, the floor.

“We do as much as we can. We’re creative," said Ina Mae Chaney, a case manager.

[More photos: U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Sen. Lisa Murkowski visit Western Alaska]

Funds exist to fly in women from other villages, but not to fly them back home, leaving some indefinitely stranded in Bethel, they said. A lack of housing in villages, and a lack of local officers and prosecutors, means some return to their abuser if they go back home. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 2/4 6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News “It would be hard for me to imagine a more vulnerable population,” he told reporters earlier in the day.

The attorney general’s trip began Wednesday in Anchorage, where Barr met with Native leaders from every region of Alaska. They proposed a statewide rural justice system that relies on tribal groups to provide police, court and victim’s services.

On Thursday, Barr visited the state crime lab in Anchorage, where he heard about a giant backlog of unprocessed rape kits, textbook-sized collections of notes and DNA samples from victims of sexual assaults for use as evidence in criminal cases. He also traveled to Galena, an Interior village.

But he saved his most remote traveling for Friday, arriving in Bethel with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, as host after she’d urged him to travel to the state to see the problems for himself. Bethel is a shopping and services hub to 48 villages, only six of them staffed by a state-supported Village Public Safety Officer, though some have tribal or village police officers with less training.

[Lawless: One in three Alaska villages have no local police]

The security detail of FBI agents and Alaska State Troopers that rolled down Bethel’s dusty roads drew onlookers. One woman sat along the main road in a lawn chair, big plywood signs propped against her truck.

“Welcome to the wild wild west” and “Lawlessness, Politics, Not Justice,” the signs said.

Nikki Pollock said she wanted to remind Barr of the need for local police.

An investigation by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica has found one in three communities in Alaska, about 70 altogether and nearly all of them Alaska Native, had no local law enforcement at some point this year. Many are in regions with the highest rates of poverty, sexual assault and suicide in the United States.

Shortly after arriving in Bethel, Barr sat down with victim advocates from one of only two women’s shelters in the region. They described chronic staffing and money shortages that put women and children’s lives at risk from their abusers.

They told Barr the 30-bed shelter lacks the space to hand14le the need in the Southwest Alaska region, forcing children and women to often sleep on couches, inflatable mattresses, the floor.

“We do as much as we can. We’re creative," said Ina Mae Chaney, a case manager.

[More photos: U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Sen. Lisa Murkowski visit Western Alaska]

Funds exist to fly in women from other villages, but not to fly them back home, leaving some indefinitely stranded in Bethel, they said. A lack of housing in villages, and a lack of local officers and prosecutors, means some return to their abuser if they go back home. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 2/4 6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News “It would be hard for me to imagine a more vulnerable population,” he told reporters earlier in the day.

The attorney general’s trip began Wednesday in Anchorage, where Barr met with Native leaders from every region of Alaska. They proposed a statewide rural justice system that relies on tribal groups to provide police, court and victim’s services.

On Thursday, Barr visited the state crime lab in Anchorage, where he heard about a giant backlog of unprocessed rape kits, textbook-sized collections of notes and DNA samples from victims of sexual assaults for use as evidence in criminal cases. He also traveled to Galena, an Interior village.

But he saved his most remote traveling for Friday, arriving in Bethel with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, as host after she’d urged him to travel to the state to see the problems for himself. Bethel is a shopping and services hub to 48 villages, only six of them staffed by a state-supported Village Public Safety Officer, though some have tribal or village police officers with less training.

[Lawless: One in three Alaska villages have no local police]

The security detail of FBI agents and Alaska State Troopers that rolled down Bethel’s dusty roads drew onlookers. One woman sat along the main road in a lawn chair, big plywood signs propped against her truck.

“Welcome to the wild wild west” and “Lawlessness, Politics, Not Justice,” the signs said.

Nikki Pollock said she wanted to remind Barr of the need for local police.

An investigation by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica has found one in three communities in Alaska, about 70 altogether and nearly all of them Alaska Native, had no local law enforcement at some point this year. Many are in regions with the highest rates of poverty, sexual assault and suicide in the United States.

Shortly after arriving in Bethel, Barr sat down with victim advocates from one of only two women’s shelters in the region. They described chronic staffing and money shortages that put women and children’s lives at risk from their abusers.

They told Barr the 30-bed shelter lacks the space to handle the need in the Southwest Alaska region, forcing children and women to often sleep on couches, inflatable mattresses, the floor.

“We do as much as we can. We’re creative," said Ina Mae Chaney, a case manager.

[More photos: U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Sen. Lisa Murkowski visit Western Alaska]

Funds exist to fly in women from other villages, but not to fly them back home, leaving some indefinitely stranded in Bethel, they said. A lack of housing in villages, and a lack of local officers and prosecutors, means some return to their abuser if they go back home. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 2/4

15 6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News “It would be hard for me to imagine a more vulnerable population,” he told reporters earlier in the day.

The attorney general’s trip began Wednesday in Anchorage, where Barr met with Native leaders from every region of Alaska. They proposed a statewide rural justice system that relies on tribal groups to provide police, court and victim’s services.

On Thursday, Barr visited the state crime lab in Anchorage, where he heard about a giant backlog of unprocessed rape kits, textbook-sized collections of notes and DNA samples from victims of sexual assaults for use as evidence in criminal cases. He also traveled to Galena, an Interior village.

But he saved his most remote traveling for Friday, arriving in Bethel with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, as host after she’d urged him to travel to the state to see the problems for himself. Bethel is a shopping and services hub to 48 villages, only six of them staffed by a state-supported Village Public Safety Officer, though some have tribal or village police officers with less training.

[Lawless: One in three Alaska villages have no local police]

The security detail of FBI agents and Alaska State Troopers that rolled down Bethel’s dusty roads drew onlookers. One woman sat along the main road in a lawn chair, big plywood signs propped against her truck.

“Welcome to the wild wild west” and “Lawlessness, Politics, Not Justice,” the signs said.

Nikki Pollock said she wanted to remind Barr of the need for local police.

An investigation by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica has found one in three communities in Alaska, about 70 altogether and nearly all of them Alaska Native, had no local law enforcement at some point this year. Many are in regions with the highest rates of poverty, sexual assault and suicide in the United States.

Shortly after arriving in Bethel, Barr sat down with victim advocates from one of only two women’s shelters in the region. They described chronic staffing and money shortages that put women and children’s lives at risk from their abusers.

They told Barr the 30-bed shelter lacks the space to handle the need in the Southwest Alaska region, forcing children and women to often sleep on couches, inflatable mattresses, the floor.

“We do as much as we can. We’re creative," said Ina Mae Chaney, a case manager.

[More photos: U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Sen. Lisa Murkowski visit Western Alaska]

Funds exist to fly in women from other villages, but not to fly them back home, leaving some indefinitely stranded 6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News in Bethel, they said. A lack of housing in villages, and a lack of local officers and prosecutors, means some return [U.S. Attorney General William Barr says he’s struck by ‘sense of urgency’ on Alaska rural crime crisis] to their abuser if they go back home. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 2/4 In villages without local police, it’s not unusual for an entire village to go on lockdown until troopers who work in rural hub posts can fly in, sometimes hours later, they said.

Over lunchtime pizza in Bethel, Barr met with leaders from the Association of Village Council Presidents, a tribal group providing social services across the Bethel region.

The Department of Justice kept reporters out of that meeting.

But Martha Whitman-Kassock, a program administrator with AVCP, said the group pressed Barr to support a $130 million plan to build seven public safety centers across the region. They would house tribal courts and and services for victims, families and offenders needing rehabilitation. Each would serve smaller, nearby communities.

“We need services provided by our people, for our people,” she said. 16

The group gave Barr a blueberry-colored kuspuk, a traditional cotton parka, that he slipped on for the 15-minute boat ride to Napaskiak.

“It slims me,” he said, laughing.

In the village, Barr and about 25 officials walked along boardwalks — the village has no roads — past storm-beaten plywood houses where people had hung up hooligan fish for drying.

Barr toured the makeshift jail, peering into empty cells built from lumber and plywood. Residents reminded Barr of the two deaths in a neighboring village in April, when two inmates were trapped in holding cells as the jail burned, a guard unable to unlock the door.

Barr met two new local officers in the village. They’re funded by the tribe and the village, and equipped only only with handcuffs to handle inebriates.

“Neither one is trained,” Murkowski told him, after meeting them. “One is 19. One is 20.”

“It’s better than no police,” Barr said.

In the meeting at the school cafeteria, Maxie, the Napaskiak tribal chief, urged Barr to declare a public safety emergency in the Bethel region. He said there were eight alcohol-related deaths in the village over two years through 2018.

Barr told the leaders the situation is an “emergency,” but stopped short of committing to making an official declaration. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 3/4 6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News [U.S. Attorney General William Barr says he’s struck by ‘sense of urgency’ on Alaska rural crime crisis]

In villages without local police, it’s not unusual for an entire village to go on lockdown until troopers who work in rural hub posts can fly in, sometimes hours later, they said.

Over lunchtime pizza in Bethel, Barr met with leaders from the Association of Village Council Presidents, a tribal group providing social services across the Bethel region.

The Department of Justice kept reporters out of that meeting.

But Martha Whitman-Kassock, a program administrator with AVCP, said the group pressed Barr to support a $130 million plan to build seven public safety centers across the region. They would house tribal courts and and services for victims, families and offenders needing rehabilitation. Each would serve smaller, nearby communities.

“We need services provided by our people, for our people,” she said.

The group gave Barr a blueberry-colored kuspuk, a traditional cotton parka, that he slipped on for the 15-minute boat ride to Napaskiak.

“It slims me,” he said, laughing.

6/4/2019In the village, BAsa rher avisitsnd a Kuskokwimbout 25 o Riverffic ivillage,als w athelk U.S.ed aattorneylong bgeneraloard callswal kpublics — safetythe vini lrurallag eAlaska has ann o‘emer roagency’ds — - pAnchorageast sto rDailym-b Newseaten [pUly.Sw. oAotdto hrnoeuys eGse wnehrearle W pielloiapmle Bhardr hsauynsg h uep’s hsotroulcikg abny f‘issehn sfeo ro fd uryrginegn.cy’ on Alaska rural crime crisis]

IBna rvri ltloaugreesd w tihthe omuat kloecshali fpt ojaliicl,e ,p iete’sr innogt i unntou seumapl tfyo rc ealnls e bnutiirlte fvriollmag leu mtob geor aond l opclkydwoowond .u Rnetsili dteronotsp erersm winhdoe wd oBrakr rin rouf rtahle h tuwbo p doesatsth csa nin f aly n ieni,g shobmoreitnimg veisl lhaoguer isn l aAtperi,l t, hwehye sna itdw.o inmates were trapped in holding cells as the jail burned, a guard unable to unlock the door.

Over lunchtime pizza in Bethel, Barr met with leaders from the Association of Village Council Presidents, a tribal gBraorur pm perto tvwidoi negw so lcoicaall s oefrfviciceers ainc rtohses vthilela Bget. hTehle rye’greio fnu.nded by the tribe and the village, and equipped only only with handcuffs to handle inebriates.

The Department of Justice kept reporters out of that meeting. “Neither one is trained,” Murkowski told him, after meeting them. “One is 19. One is 20.”

But Martha Whitman-Kassock, a program administrator with AVCP, said the group pressed Barr to support a $130 “mItil’sli obnet ptelar nt htaon b nuoil dp oselivceen,” pBuabrlri cs asiadf.ety centers across the region. They would house tribal courts and and services for victims, families and offenders needing rehabilitation. Each would serve smaller, nearby communities.

In the meeting at the school cafeteria, Maxie, the Napaskiak tribal chief, urged Barr to declare a public safety “eWme rngeendc ys einrv tihcees B pertohveild reedg bioyn o. uHre p seaoipdl teh, eforer owuerr ep eoigphlet ,a”l schoeh osla-irde.lated deaths in the village over two years through 2018.

The group gave Barr a blueberry-colored kuspuk, a traditional cotton parka, that he slipped on for the 15-minute bBoaarrt troidlde thoe N laepadasekrsia tkh.e situation is an “emergency,” but stopped short of committing to making an official declaration.

“It slims me,” he said, laughing. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 3/4

In the village, Barr and about 25 officials walked along boardwalks — the village has no roads — past storm-beaten plywood houses where people had hung up hooligan fish for drying.

Barr toured the makeshift jail, peering into empty cells built from lumber and plywood. Residents reminded Barr of the two deaths in a neighboring village in April, when two inmates were trapped in holding cells as the jail burned, a guard unable to unlock the door.

Barr met two new local officers in the village. They’re funded by the tribe and the village, and equipped only only with handcuffs to handle inebriates.

“Neither one is trained,” Murkowski told him, after meeting them. “One is 19. One is 20.”

“It’s better than no police,” Barr said.

In the meeting at the school cafeteria, Maxie, the Napaskiak tribal chief, urged Barr to declare a public safety emergency in the Bethel region. He said there were eight alcohol-related deaths in the village over two years 17 through 2018.

Barr told the leaders the situation is an “emergency,” but stopped short of committing to making an official declaration. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 3/4 6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News [U.S. Attorney General William Barr says he’s struck by ‘sense of urgency’ on Alaska rural crime crisis]

In villages without local police, it’s not unusual for an entire village to go on lockdown until troopers who work in rural hub posts can fly in, sometimes hours later, they said.

Over lunchtime pizza in Bethel, Barr met with leaders from the Association of Village Council Presidents, a tribal group providing social services across the Bethel region.

The Department of Justice kept reporters out of that meeting.

But Martha Whitman-Kassock, a program administrator with AVCP, said the group pressed Barr to support a $130 million plan to build seven public safety centers across the region. They would house tribal courts and and services for victims, families and offenders needing rehabilitation. Each would serve smaller, nearby communities.

“We need services provided by our people, for our people,” she said.

The group gave Barr a blueberry-colored kuspuk, a traditional cotton parka, that he slipped on for the 15-minute boat ride to Napaskiak.

“It slims me,” he said, laughing.

In the village, Barr and about 25 officials walked along boardwalks — the village has no roads — past storm-beaten plywood houses where people had hung up hooligan fish for drying.

Barr toured the makeshift jail, peering into empty cells built from lumber and plywood. Residents reminded Barr of the two deaths in a neighboring village in April, when two inmates were trapped in holding cells as the jail burned, a guard unable to unlock the door.

Barr met two new local officers in the village. They’re funded by the tribe and the village, and equipped only only with handcuffs to handle inebriates.

“Neither one is trained,” Murkowski told him, after meeting them. “One is 19. One is 20.”

“It’s better than no police,” Barr said.

In the meeting at the school cafeteria, Maxie, the Napaskiak tribal chief, urged Barr to declare a public safety emergency in the Bethel region. He said there were eight alcohol-related deaths in the village over two years through 2018.

Barr told the leaders the situation is an “emergency,” but stopped short of committing to making an official declaration. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 3/4

18 6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News [U.S. Attorney General William Barr says he’s struck by ‘sense of urgency’ on Alaska rural crime crisis]

In villages without local police, it’s not unusual for an entire village to go on lockdown until troopers who work in rural hub posts can fly in, sometimes hours later, they said.

Over lunchtime pizza in Bethel, Barr met with leaders from the Association of Village Council Presidents, a tribal group providing social services across the Bethel region.

The Department of Justice kept reporters out of that meeting.

But Martha Whitman-Kassock, a program administrator with AVCP, said the group pressed Barr to support a $130 million plan to build seven public safety centers across the region. They would house tribal courts and and services for victims, families and offenders needing rehabilitation. Each would serve smaller, nearby communities.

“We need services provided by our people, for our people,” she said.

The group gave Barr a blueberry-colored kuspuk, a traditional cotton parka, that he slipped on for the 15-minute boat ride to Napaskiak.

“It slims me,” he said, laughing.

In the village, Barr and about 25 officials walked along boardwalks — the village has no roads — past storm-beaten plywood houses where people had hung up hooligan fish for drying.

Barr toured the makeshift jail, peering into empty cells built from lumber and plywood. Residents reminded Barr of the two deaths in a neighboring village in April, when two inmates were trapped in holding cells as the jail burned, a guard unable to unlock the door.

Barr met two new local officers in the village. They’re funded by the tribe and the village, and equipped only only with handcuffs to handle inebriates.

“Neither one is trained,” Murkowski told him, after meeting them. “One is 19. One is 20.”

“It’s better than no police,” Barr said.

In the meeting at the school cafeteria, Maxie, the Napaskiak tribal chief, urged Barr to declare a public safety emergency in the Bethel region. He said there were eight alcohol-related deaths in the village over two years through 2018.

Barr told the leaders the situation is an “emergency,” but stopped short of committing to making an official declaration.

6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 3/4 Barr later told reporters that a broad solution is needed, one involving tribal governments and state and federal support. It’s clear local leaders are ready to solve the problem.

“One thing that impressed me the most is the commitment of the people," he told reporters. “They’re not looking for handouts. They’re looking for their due.”

About this author

Alex DeMarban

Alex DeMarban is a longme Alaska journalist who covers the oil and gas industries and general assignments. Reach him at 907‑257‑4317 or [email protected].

Comments 19

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Terms of Use Privacy Policy Archives Reprints Customer Service Contact Us Adverse © 2019 Anchorage Daily News. All rights reserved.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 4/4 20 6/4/2019 As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’ - Anchorage Daily News Barr later told reporters that a broad solution is needed, one involving tribal governments and state and federal support. It’s clear local leaders are ready to solve the problem.

“One thing that impressed me the most is the commitment of the people," he told reporters. “They’re not looking for handouts. They’re looking for their due.”

About this author

Alex DeMarban

Alex DeMarban is a longme Alaska journalist who covers the oil and gas industries and general assignments. Reach him at 907‑257‑4317 or [email protected].

Comments

Download Our App Subscribe to our Newsletters Get the Newspaper Contact Anchorage Daily News

Terms of Use Privacy Policy Archives Reprints Customer Service Contact Us Adverse © 2019 Anchorage Daily News. All rights reserved. 21

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/06/01/as-he-visits-a-kuskokwim-river-village-the-us-attorney-general-calls-public-safety-in-rural-alaska-an-emer… 4/4

AFN’s Public Safety Issues

23

ALASKA NATIVE ROUNDTABLE WITH U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL WILLIAM BARR

CHILD WELFARE

Background

In October 2017, the State of Alaska signed a landmark agreement with 17 Alaska Native tribes and tribal organizations (tribal co-signers) to revolutionize Alaska’s child welfare system. Specifically, the state and the tribal co-signers formally negotiated which child welfare services and supports the co-signers would provide on behalf of the state, as well as the funding streams necessary to carry out the work. The primary goal of the effort was to help the state deliver services and supports at a lower cost and at a higher quality.

Modeled after the compacts the federal government routinely negotiates with tribes and tribal organizations under the Tribal Self Governance Program (TSGP) of the Indian Self- Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA), 25 U.S.C. § 450 et seq., the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact (Compact) is the first such government-to-government agreement at the state level.

The TSGP allows federally recognized tribes and tribal organizations to assume funding and control over programs, services, functions, or activities (PSFAs) traditionally administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Indian Health Service (IHS) through negotiated compacts. Each compact outlines the general terms of the government-to-government relationship between the tribe or tribal organization and the federal government (i.e., BIA or IHS).

Applying this model to state child welfare work caught the attention of Casey Family Programs (CFP), the country’s largest foster care and related services foundation. CFP was an eager partner with the state and the tribal co-signers on the endeavor, and through a modest donation created the first ever public-private partnership (PPP) to transform Alaska’s child welfare system.

The Compact is uniquely positioned to improve Alaska’s child welfare system. Alaska Native children represent 15% of the state’s general population, but constitute 60% of the children in state custody. Disparities of this nature are generally a sign of a system failure, and Alaska is no exception. The state has a difficult time recruiting and retaining a proficient workforce, and

Prepared by the Alaska Federation of Natives Page 1 of 10 May 29, 2019

25 generally operates at a 30% positional vacancy rate, requiring its frontline workers to carry caseloads more than three times the national average. To improve the system, the Compact needs to be fully developed and implemented.

Regrettably, this innovative PPP—with roots in the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.—may die on the vine. The latest round of annual negotiations between the parties broke down, leaving Alaskan children hanging in the balance.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The U.S. Department of Justice (department) vigorously defends the purpose of ICWA, which Congress passed in 1978 to prevent the removal of Indian children by public and private child welfare agencies by giving the child’s family, extended family, tribe, and other tribes placement preference. The Alaska Federation of Natives appreciates the department’s steadfast commitment to keeping Indian families together, and in addition to upholding the constitutionality of the law, respectfully asks DOJ to:

• Issue Joint Guidance with the Department of the Interior (DOI) on ICWA. Similar to the department’s joint guidance with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for child welfare systems, DOJ could issue joint guidance with DOI to state and local child welfare agencies, outlining the “active efforts” requirements of ICWA to keep Indian families together to fulfill the purpose of the law. Agencies are applying the spirit of ICWA in varying degrees.

• Draft a Uniform State ICWA Law. To clarify and strengthen ICWA at the state level, DOJ could assemble a task force to survey state child welfare statutes, and draft a uniform state ICWA law. States have enacted legislation in varying degrees.

• Design for a Tribal Demonstration Project Under the IV-E Program. To drive child welfare reform, DOJ could help design a tribal demonstration project under the Title IV-E. Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §§301-1305, is the largest source of federal funding for state child welfare programs, transferring $12 billion annually to states for foster care, guardianship, and adoption related services and supports. With the department’s assistance, tribes and tribal organizations could design a demonstration project for a IV-E waiver to improve child welfare systems through a more flexible use of the IV-E funds for prevention. States and local governments have received waivers in varying degrees for home-based supports.

Prepared by the Alaska Federation of Natives Page 2 of 10 May 29, 2019

26 TRIBAL COMPACTING

BACKGROUND

Federally recognized tribes and tribal organizations have a proven track record of successfully administrating both federal and state programs spanning nearly 30 years.

Tribal self-governance compacts allow tribes to drive and restructure programs to meet local needs, and in many instances, develop world-renowned services via congressionally sanctioned compacting authority. The model works because tribes and tribal organizations are extremely resourceful at leveraging funding, and are innovative in overcoming obstacles to deliver greater services for less cost. Tribes and tribal organizations are sophisticated, qualified, and eager to accept more responsibility and authority for providing services to their membership. Currently, nearly all programs under Indian Health Service (IHS) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) are compacted with Alaska Native tribes, consortia, or through statewide compacts between these entities. For example, the statewide hospital, regional hospitals, sub-regional, and village health clinics all operate as a compact.

Self-governance compacts are authorized by the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA), 25 U.S.C. § 450 et seq., and are used primarily for tribes to assume operation and funding of IHS and BIA programs. However, the statute also authorizes tribal compacting of programs from other bureaus in the Department of the Interior (DOI). Tribal Self- Governance Act (TSGA), 25 U.S.C. § 458 aa-hh made the self-governance program permanent within DOI, and established two categories of non-BIA programs that are eligible for compacting.

Section 403(b)(2) of that Act provides that a tribe can assume any program, service, function or activity (PSFA) administered by DOI that is “otherwise available to Indian tribes or Indians” through a self-governance funding agreement. This covers PSFAs intended for Native Americans or their tribal communities. Under Section 403(c), DOI may also compact PSFAs that are of “special geographic, historical, or cultural significance” to a self-governance tribe. Whether to allow tribal compacting of these “nexus” PSFAs is at the discretion of the agency. Additionally, Section 405(c) of the TSGA requires DOI to publish an annual list of all the non-BIA programs, services, functions, and activities, or portions thereof that are “eligible for inclusion” in self- governance agreements. It also requires DOI to provide programmatic targets.

Compacting allows the federal government to better meet the needs of Alaska’s tribal communities. The financial resources gained from compacting enable Alaskan tribes to develop their regions, provide health clinics and rehabilitation facilities, and allow the tribes to govern themselves and their members more effectively. The federal government, tribes, and tribal members would benefit tremendously if the range of programs and services that tribes and tribal organizations can currently contract for under ISDEAA contracting and compacting agreements were expanded.

Prepared by the Alaska Federation of Natives Page 3 of 10 May 29, 2019

27

RECOMMENDATIONS

Alaska Natives want to be leaders in our regions. Enhancing our relationship with the federal government through new arrangements in self-determination compacts will encourage innovation and help Alaska Natives better provide for the needs of our people and communities. As such, the Alaska Federation of Natives respectfully asks the Department of Justice (DOJ) to:

• Audit DOJ Programs for Compact Eligibility. Recognizing Alaska’s unique public safety needs, DOJ should audit its programs to determine whether it is appropriate to open the door for tribes and tribal organizations to compact justice services. One such example might be the COPS program.

• Create a Tribal Jurisdiction Demonstration Project. Recognizing the need to extend criminal jurisdiction to Alaska tribes, particularly rural Native villages, DOJ should consider a demonstration project in this area. One example may be through the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act of 2019 (VAWA). Congressman Don Young (R-AK) added an amendment to H.R. 1585, which is the House bill to reauthorize VAWA. The amendment calls for a demonstration project to extend criminal jurisdiction over domestic violence and sexual assault crimes to five communities within Alaska with a Native population over 75%. The DOJ could expand this demonstration project to include additional jurisdictions.

Prepared by the Alaska Federation of Natives Page 4 of 10 May 29, 2019

28 PUBLIC SAFETY (COPS PROGRAM)

BACKGROUND

A recent study found that about 70 of Alaska’s more than 200 rural Native villages are ‘unprotected.’ These villages have public schools and post offices, but no law enforcement presence, and nearly a total lack of infrastructure to support public safety personnel. Many unprotected villages are accessible only by air or water (a few by all-terrain vehicles), meaning that when an emergency occurs rural residents are often on their own for hours or days.

The Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS) is charged with delivering law enforcement throughout the state; however, it has never established or maintained a presence in most rural Native villages. Alaska’s centralized policing model relies heavily on Alaska State Troopers (AST). AST contracts with 10 tribal organizations to administer the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) Program as a way to fill this void. The 10 contractors include eight Alaska Native nonprofits; one local government; and one federally recognized Alaska Native tribe. VPSOs provide public safety services and basic law enforcement, but the program is critically understaffed due to several challenges, including:

• Infrastructure. Many villages lack key infrastructure prerequisites such as a dedicated public safety building, officer housing, etc. to recruit and retain a VPSO. Other requirements such as training, equipment, communication, fuel, etc. can be prohibitively expensive for small villages to provide. By example, the Association of Village Council Presidents has identified $10.46 million in public safety facilities and infrastructure needs for 48 rural Native villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Region.

• Funding. DPS strictly regulates VPSO budgets. DPS allows for salary and fringe benefits, but little more. The lack of a retirement plan makes it difficult to recruit and retain qualified individuals. Moreover, the inflexibility in fund use forces many contractors to return funding at the end of each year.

• Recruitment and Retention. The primary recruitment challenge, as noted above, is the lack of infrastructure. In fiscal year 2019, the state funded VPSO 55 positions; however, only 42 positions remain filled. Also, as noted above, when compared to careers with AST, VPSO positions pay less and have fewer benefits.

Alaska Native entities frequently apply to the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to help fill the public safety void in Alaska. In addition to grants and training, COPS also helps manage the Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) that allows federally recognized tribes and tribal consortia to submit a single application for several programs, including grants for COPS Hiring Program (CHP) and Tribal Resources Grant Program-Equipment/Training. CHP provides funding directed to law enforcement agencies to hire or rehire career law enforcement officers, including VPSOs. Rehired officers

Prepared by the Alaska Federation of Natives Page 5 of 10 May 29, 2019

29 includes those who have been laid off due to state, local, or Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) budget cuts, or are scheduled to be laid off. The program also includes fringe benefits like health and life insurance. The Equipment/Training Program provides for basic issue equipment, vehicles, weapons, technology, and training.

There are limits to COPS’ success in Alaska. The current CTAS grant solicitation provides $20 million in COPS funds available for approximately 50 Public Safety and Community Policing grants nationwide, making it an extremely competitive grant for small Alaska Native tribes to apply for and receive. Awarded grant funds are scaled depending on department size. Alaska Native tribes have small departments that under current formula would qualify for funding up to $300,000 over three years. Though the work is challenging and often dangerous, a grant of this size would provide an Alaska Native tribe with one officer, training, patrol vehicle, and other essential equipment. Over the three year grant period, the officer would receive a low pay for challenging and dangerous work in a state where the cost of living in rural areas is notoriously high.

RECOMMENDATIONS

COPS grant programs provide valuable funding to support Alaska’s VPSO program, but more investment in Alaska is needed. In order to maximize COPS’ impact in Alaska, the Alaska Federation of Natives respectfully requests that DOJ:

• Hold Tribal Consultation. DOJ should hold a formal tribal consultation to identify Alaska’s rural public safety barriers.

• Modify the COPS Program. DOJ should modify the COPS grant guidelines to permit flexible use of grant funds to effectively address gaps in infrastructure.

• Increased COPS Appropriation. DOJ should also advocate for an increased appropriation to expand the COPS program to ensure each of the 70 unprotected Alaska Native villages have a public safety presence, or work to reallocate funds within the department.

Prepared by the Alaska Federation of Natives Page 6 of 10 May 29, 2019

30 VOTING RIGHTS

BACKGROUND

Since the United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, Alaska Natives have faced challenges in our ability to participate in the electoral process, including denial of U.S. citizenship, a literacy test enacted in 1925, and an English literacy requirement in the Alaska State Constitution. While the last of these hurdles was removed in 1970, other hurdles – such as inadequate election information, Alaska Division of Elections staffing problems, physical and geographic barriers to, or lack of, polling sites – remain resolute. Voting rights for Alaska Natives continues to be an ongoing issue. Our people do not have equal access to in-person, absentee or early voting, nor do we have equal access to voting materials, affecting our ability to cast informed ballots. This problem is particularly acute in rural areas of the state.

More than 50 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), 52 U.S.C. § 1973 et seq., Alaska remains woefully behind other states in many areas. Without the VRA’s Section 5 preclearance protections, access to and participation in the electoral process has grown worse.

By example, at least 38 Alaska Native villages lack polling locations, and rural poll workers are compensated significantly less than their urban counterparts, receiving far less training. Alaska Native voters, which represent a significant portion of the Alaskan electorate, have become dependent on the VRA and other federal protections to surmount decades of discrimination. Despite Toyukak v. Treadwell, which found the state in violation of Section 5 of the VRA, and the Alaska Federation of Natives’ (AFN) 2014 grassroots campaign establish polling stations in 128 villages, turnout in voting districts with high Native populations significantly declined in the 2016 general election.

As noted above, in 2014, AFN engaged in an unprecedented effort to establish and operate early and absentee voting locations in rural Alaska villages. Prior to our involvement, the Division of Elections (DOE) estimated it had “about 30” registered polling places in rural Alaska. Eleven calendar days later, AFN delivered to DOE requisite documentation pinpointing a polling worker and polling location for 128 Native villages.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been aware of the current situation in Alaska, and in a rare move drafted a bill to ensure Native voting rights: the Tribal Equal Access to Voting Act of 2015, to resolve many of these disparities by allowing tribes to locate at least one polling place on tribal land, mandating that states make equally available all technologies. As stated in the transmittal letter from Assistant Attorney General Kadzik to Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, “In addition to suffering from a long history of discrimination, the distance many American Indian and Alaska Native citizens must travel to reach a polling place presents a substantial and ongoing barrier to full voter participation.” The Tribal Equity Access to Voting Act required tribally designated polling locations on Indian lands, equitable polling locations, hours, and pay, in addition to other special protections.

Prepared by the Alaska Federation of Natives Page 7 of 10 May 29, 2019

31

Section 203 of the VRA mandates that covered jurisdictions provide voting materials in American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) languages. Which languages and jurisdictions are covered is based on determinations made by the Census Bureau.

Unfortunately, the Section 203 determinations in 2011 reduced by over 50% the number of jurisdictions covered for Alaska Native or American Indian languages. AFN believes this staggering decrease was largely a result of the limitations of the new statistical sampling method used for the first time in the 2011 determinations, and we request that the Director use supplemental surveys in Native areas to identify populations that should be covered under Section 203. In a related result of the 2010 U.S. Census, the Alaska Redistricting Board merged two Southeast Districts, diminishing rural Native voter impact.

RECOMMENDATIONS

AFN requests DOJ generally monitor voting issues in Alaska to ensure certain populations such as Alaska Natives are not disenfranchised, as well as:

• Resubmit a Bill Similar to the Tribal Equal Access to Voting Act to Congress. Ensuring Alaska Natives have the same rights to vote as non-Natives is paramount to strengthening democracy. DOJ should revive the Tribal Equal Access to Voting Act in partnership with the Native American Voting Rights Coalition.

• Assist the U.S. Census Bureau to Achieve an Accurate Count in the 2020 Census. To ensure an accurate count during the 2020 Census, DOJ should examine the question relating to tribal affiliation, and help the Bureau with language.

• Monitor the 2021 Alaska Redistricting Board. Like all states, Alaska will engage in a redistricting process following the 2020 Census. Given the state’s rural and urban divide, DOJ’s oversight of the process is necessary to ensure fair representation.

Prepared by the Alaska Federation of Natives Page 8 of 10 May 29, 2019

32 TRIBAL COURTS

BACKGROUND

Alaska is home to 229 federally recognized Indian tribes. Most of these tribes are synonymous with individual rural Native villages, which form the basis of their tribal governments. Most of the villages are off the road system, accessible only by air and water (and during certain times of the year by all-terrain vehicles). The critical need for better-resourced civil and criminal justice systems in these communities is well documented.

In its 2013 report, the Indian Law and Order Commission noted that the centralized state-based system of law enforcement and justice does “not serve local and Native communities adequately, if at all.” The Commission observed that “the problems in Alaska Native communities are so severe and the number of Alaska Native communities affected so large” that immediate change is necessary.

While many Alaska tribes use their duly elected tribal councils to double as their tribal courts, some have a separately developed court system. No matter the form, the courts are severely under-resourced. Most are staffed by volunteers, often the same tribal leaders who are called upon to fill innumerable other unpaid leadership positions in the village.

Several factors have created the funding desert for Alaska’s tribal courts, including (1) all but one Alaska tribe lacks a taxable land base; (2) many villages have subsistence (non-cash) economies isolated from urban hubs; and (3) Alaska Native regional and village corporations established by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 43 U.S.C. § 1602 et seq. are not an alternative source of funding. These corporations operate as for-profit businesses, with dividend obligations to their shareholders that make it nearly impossible to divert revenue to tribal governments.

Predictable tribal court appropriations are the only realistic funding option. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has provided some support through three-year tribal court development grants, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) distributed a one-time appropriation for tribal court funds in Public Law 280 states like Alaska. However, the resources are insufficient to sustain effective justice systems. Competitive grants do not ensure that adequate funds reach tribes. Writing a competitive grant application takes a high amount of capacity and resources which can serve as a barrier to entry for many small tribes. Moreover, successful applications result only in short-term funding.

Additionally, recent requests for proposals (RFPs) have sought vendors for tribal court assessments, which many tribal courts and consortia have the capacity to complete without significant additional funds. It is the tribes themselves that should be the highest federal funding priority, and it should be the tribes that are prioritizing the resources allocated for tribal courts.

Prepared by the Alaska Federation of Natives Page 9 of 10 May 29, 2019

33

Tribal Courts are the first line of defense in protecting vulnerable Alaska Native children, and ensuring that these children remain with their families and villages. Tribal courts increase access to justice and accountability in Alaska Native villages, in part by addressing domestic violence. Within tribal communities there is dire need for thriving tribal courts, with the ability to apply traditional law and custom. We cannot expect these courts to be sustained on volunteers and occasional grants, no more than we could expect our state justice systems would.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Alaska Federation of Natives respectfully requests DOJ to:

● Establish a Tribal Unit for the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). AFN requests the implementation of a tribal unit that understands the needs and issues of tribal courts, including the challenges unique to Alaska when it comes to effectively deploying grant funds. During 2018, $25 million was returned to the Crime Victim’s Fund because there was a misunderstanding of Indian Country issues. The second year of implementation the funding went through Consolidated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS), and to date less than $30 million has been spent, which leaves $130 million to allocate by September 2019. A tribal unit can work with the tribes to ensure the remaining funds are distributed to the tribes.

● Advocate for Permanent Tribal Court Funding. Tribal courts for the six P.L. 280 states should be a permanent line item in the federal budget. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has championed tribal court funding each year through the U.S. Department of the Interior’s budget. This funding is effective as tribes can use a model to request funding for needs, rather than it being appropriated by someone unfamiliar with the unique needs of tribal courts. However, this funding is year to year with no guarantees beyond year to year funding. A permanent line item for funding in DOJ’s budget would stabilize tribal courts, allowing them to fully develop.

● Support the Alaska Provisions in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019 (VAWA). The House version of VAWA contains a special provision that would create five pilot projects in Alaska to exercise special domestic violence court jurisdiction. The Senate will soon take up the bill. DOJ could help by supporting the special provision.

Prepared by the Alaska Federation of Natives Page 10 of 10 May 29, 2019

34 Alaska State Defense Force (Plan for Growth)

35

1 By November 2018 November LTC(AK) Simon Brown LTC(AK) Brigade Training Officer Brigade Training (Plan for growth) for (Plan Alaska State Defense Force

37 2 Alaska NativesATG inthe enlist Alaska Alaska State Defense Force Defense State Alaska the Alaska Alaska and - ASDF (AK) John C. James Army NationalArmy Guard COL COL Commander Alaska Alaska Scouts The successor to the the to successor The Guard Territorial

38 3 World War II War World Homeland Defense mission Marvin R. Marston 6,422 Volunteers 107 Communities ATG from Distinct 275 Soldiers in hub cities Federalized in 1941 Alaska Alaska National Guard • • • • • • • • A Tradition of Homelandof Protection Tradition A

39 4 establish detachments and teams in - Marston, to re to Marston, being being of rural communities and the people, such as; - 1940 TO 2018 1940 TO the concepts and goals of Major Marvin R. Individuals Individuals Families and members of the community and Community Government Tribal Local • • • Using the Past Knowledge and Experience to Create a New Future representation. As noted on the previous slide, in the ATG 1940s, almost every community had goal is ASDF to use The AFN, AlaskaAirlines, OilNational Guard,Companies,UtilitiesAgencies, State and FederalCompanies, etc. rural communities throughout Alaska. rural communities throughout The goals and missions of training local members with leaderships, resiliency knowledge and capabilities, and knowledge and combining experiencethat of with local area,individual’s result will in a “Big Win” for Whichassist will state and federal agencies to be more in effective addressing Homeland Defense and Homeland America. Alaska and Security of needs ASDF and have a great desire to form The partnership, to gain support to grow local units, from entities conducting business or that have an interest in the well

40 security, security, and civil support operations. support civil and Mission Brigade, Alaska State Defense Force, Force, Defense State Alaska Brigade, th The 49 The provides a trained and organized state military military state organized and trained a provides homeland supporting reserve defense homeland

41 6 - flood plans - flood earthquake or pre or - earthquake form teams to work with DHSEM with assisting community with developing pre developing with community assisting with DHSEM with work to teams form by working with and through local Tribal and Community Governments, form partnership partnership form Governments, Community and Tribal local through and with working by – in rural communities to perform foot and mechanized patrols to detect abnormities, and abnormities, detect to patrols mechanized and foot perform to communities rural in l Teams to assist law enforcement agencies in large scale or unusual large scale events scale large unusual or scale large in agencies enforcement law assist to Teams provide manpower and resources to assist other entities in moving supplies, such as; food, food, as; such supplies, moving in entities other assist to resources and manpower provide – – train on vary forms of communication to ensure connectivity across Alaska, during disasters or or disasters during Alaska, across connectivity ensure to communication of forms vary on train Mission Essential Task List (METL) List Task Essential Mission train and acquire resources and manpower to augment federal, state, and local agencies agencies local and state, federal, augment to manpower and resources acquire and train – establish a medical unit to assist and augment provider during a disaster or large scale event scale large or disaster a during provider augment and assist to unit medical a establish – - Mitigation Support – Partnership Partnership Support establish an engineer unit with capabilities to assist state agencies in assessing damage levels to to levels damage assessing in agencies state assist to capabilities with unit engineer an establish – train personne train – Support operations – Support Replenishment Assessment Assessment Response Response Awareness Awareness Rural Alaska Resiliency Resiliency Alaska Rural report them. report Incident to create grow ASDF Detachments ASDF grow create to Communications large scale disruptive events disruptive scale large Domain responding disasters of large disruptive events disruptive large of disasters responding Damage Military Police Security Security Police Military water, or medical supplies to area affected by a disaster a by affected area to supplies medical or water, MedicalStation infrastructure, that disrupt the normal daily activities of Alaskans of activities daily normal the disrupt that infrastructure, and Movement Community Disaster Pre pre as such disaster, a of effects the mitigate to plans disaster • • • • • • • • •

42 43 8

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44 9 Sgt or Staff Sgt Staff or Sgt Lieutenant Captain Lt. Colonel Colonel Commander's Rank 5 Platoons - 200 Soldiers in 3 ASDF UNITS ASDF Companies 40 Soldiers in 2 or more Squads 10 Soldiers 6 5 Battalions - - - Components 4 16 - 100 - 3 2 Unit Name Squad Platoon (Detachment) Company Battalion Brigade

45 10 Engineer 12A Engineer 35F Analyst Intelligence Chaplain56M LogisticSpecialist 92A Specialties (MOS) ASDF BranchesASDF ASDF UNITS ASDF Cavalry Scout 19D Cavalry Scout Military PoliceMilitary 31B 46Q Affairs Public 91B Mechanic Military Occupation Infantry 11B (Scouts) 11B Infantry Communications 25C Communications 36B Technician Financial 79R Recruiter

46 11 High Frequency Signal Frequency High UHF/VHF Signal Radio ALMR and PhonesSAT/Links Purification 3 X Water heaters 6 X tents with Civil Support Assets Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø ASDF Civil Support Capabilities Engineers Communications Police Military Logisticians Scouts ASDF Soldiers (107) Soldiers ASDF Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø

47 12 Incident Command Command Incident System reporting Incident and Identification Risk mitigation Civil Emergency Response Skills Ø Ø Ø Skills Skills prevention Demand Individual - Violence De- escalation Violence Drug Reduction Management Management techniques Suicide Ø Ø Leadership Ø Ø ASDF ASDF skills/field - skills/field First Aid First Navigation Land Subsistence reporting Incident craft Ø Soldiers Skills Ø Ø Ø ASDF Citizen Soldiers Are Valuable Assets to Their Families, Community, & Alaska Community, Their Families, to Assets Valuable Are Soldiers ASDF Citizen

48 13 Escalation Training for ASDF Soldiers for Training - Violence De Violence Nutrition, Health, and Fitness Cessation Tobacco Techniques and Survival Field Craft Arctic Operations Radio Amateur Aid First (CERT) Team Response Emergency Community (SAR) Rescue and Search Intervention and Awareness Suicide • • • • • • • • • Other Available Available Other

49 14 MODEL Training 5. Train and Rehearse and Train 5. 6. Create Deployment Packages Deployment Create 6. 4. Develop ActionPlans 4.Develop - ASDF ASDF ASDF’s Next Update and Replenish Response Packages – STEP TRAINING TRAINING 8 STEP Response w/Appropriate Personnel and Resources the Trainer - the 7. 8. Evaluate Evaluate 8. Map Recon Various Sites MapRecon Various Develop Mission Packets Train 3. 1. 2.

50 15 MODEL Training - ASDF ASDF what is the units goals and objectives STEP TRAININGSTEP – 8 What do we need to training on training to need we do What – line (when do you want the unit ready to activate) to ready unit the want you linedo (when Training aides, money & times, & money aides, Training Coordinate getting resources, trainer and trainees to training site training to trainees and trainer resources, getting Coordinate Identify BDE(METL) Identify ASSESSMENT RISK COMPLETE Do we have internal resources (people and equipment) to train to equipment) and (people resources internal Dowehave a) - Developtime a Identify a training site (location and place adequate to conduct training conduct to placeadequate and (location site training a Identify a) a) e) b) c) d) Develop Mission Packets Packets Mission Develop 1.

51 16 MODEL Training - ASDF ASDF STEP TRAININGSTEP 8 Personnel certificate to certificate Personnel conduct specific training to standards Task, conditions, and standards and conditions, Task, etc.;) fieldmanuals, manuals, tech (regulations, References METL objectivesmatch Training the Trainer – theTrainer - Create training outline (IAW DMVA Partners Standards) and obtain command approval command obtain and Standards) Partners DMVA outline(IAW training Create a) b) c) task on proficient tacticallytechnically and are trainer(s) the proof Documented clarificationreviewand for allotted Time training and trainers evaluate to system Create 2. 3. 4. 5. Train 2.

52 17 MODEL Training - Health hazards (weather, animals, etc.) animals, (weather, Healthhazards ASDF ASDF theexact location (building) where the training occur will - – STEP TRAININGSTEP 8 exit during an emergency an during exit – map, google earth, personnel knowledgepersonnelexperience & googleearth, map, – Environmental issues or concerns issuesor Environmental personnel of Safety Entry Entry restroom shelter, parking, Transportation, learningenvironment a Conducive to Accessibility a) b) a) b) c) Recon 1. 2. Map Recon Various Sites Recon Various Map 3.

53 18 MODEL Training - detailedtoactivated planhow SAD on Order ASDF ASDF – STEP TRAININGSTEP 8 Plans Plans top exercise to walk through process of activation and movement and activation of process walk through to exercise top - Involve ASDF partners (DHS, AST, Tribal & Community Governments, etc.) etc.) Governments, Community & Tribal AST, (DHS, ASDFpartners Involve Perimeters that will be used assess standards and success and willstandards assess used that be Perimeters Who, What, When, Where, How Where, When, What, Who, Perimeter's Safety Assessment Assessment Table a) a) a) b) Directive in an OPORD format OPORD Directive inan 3. 1. 2. Develop Action Develop 4.

54 19 top - MODEL Training - combat checks combat ASDF ASDF Units, Teams, or Individuals practicing (at a walk) Units, Teams, STEP TRAININGSTEP - 8 - pre and execution Make correction or address issues address or correction Make Do they work IAW with prior instructions & table & instructions withprior IAW work Dothey Are they the right aids and in sufficient amount insufficient aidsand right the they Are Weak point vs strong points strong vs point Weak Training aids and resources aidsand Training Review- Pre 1. a) b) Identify issues that need clarification or additional instructions clarificationor need issuesthat Identify a) 3. 1. 2. Train and Rehearse Rehearse and Train 5.

55 20 MODEL usetraining todevelop packages Training - – ASDF ASDF ASSESSMENT COMPLETED? ASSESSMENT STEP TRAININGSTEP 8 related to specific locations and events specificlocationsand to related RISK RISK - – life of items inpackages items lifeof - Packages packages periodical inspectionof for Developsystem Shelf package each isresponsiblefor Who objective to package Match Accountability a) b) a) b) c) Document what was learned through rehearsals to create deployment packages deployment create to rehearsals through waslearned what Document 1. 2. Packages Packages Deployment Create 6.

56 21 a SOP upon SAD upon activation aSOP – MODEL Training - ASDF ASDF vehicle, air, marine or a combination a or marine vehicle,air, – STEP TRAININGSTEP 8 Personnel and Resources and Personnel Do teams know and understand SOP understand knowand Doteams – SOP on how to ascertain POC for location of deployment locationof for POC ascertain howto on SOP How to deployvia How to a) deployment each AARafter for SOP/procedure a Create Do Personnel know limitation of what events the BDErespond can the events what knowlimitationDoPersonnelof detachments different individuals integrate from to BDE trained Havethe capabilitiesits limitations and of Partners BDE informed Havethe Evaluate a) e) b) c) d) 1. Response with 7.

57 22 MODEL Training - ASDF ASDF STEP TRAININGSTEP learned SADlearned deployment 8 Update and Replenish Response Packages Identify short fall or areas of concern and develop plan for retraining developplanfor and concern of areas fallor short Identify skills those of sustainment planfor create and success Identify – Reviewlessons - a) b) Update references and training material from lessonslearned from material training and references Update Reviewwithtrainers lessonslearned References a) a) b) Sustainment 1. 2. Evaluate Evaluate 8.

58 23 Delivered Training - Ideas for Partner Partner for Ideas Arctic Survival Skills (TBD) Skills Survival Arctic Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operations (University of Alaska Fairbanks) Alaska of (University Operations Aerial Vehicle Unmanned Rescue) and Search (Bethel Operations Vehicle Underwater (TBD) Ideas Security Food Game) and (Fish Defense Wildlife (DHS&EM) Planning Response Emergency Community Small Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø

59 24 to hurricane hurricane to Army Rangers at at Rangers Army response Canadian Canadian SU SU Valley - During Emergencies During ASDF Recent Activities Recent ASDF Rico Participated in exercise Arctic Eagle 2018 with Eagle Arctic exercise in Participated Deployed 4 Soldiers to assist with communications in with assist communications to 4 Soldiers Deployed Support to several forest fires in the MAT the in fires forest several to Support Fire Forest Indian the on Support (JOC) Center Operations Joint AKNG in Support Control) (Traffic Houston and Wasilla to Support Community the Port of Alcan of Port the Marie in Puerto Puerto in Marie Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø

60 25 State Defense Force Defense State , staffed a call center taking reports a of call center damage in , staffed During Emergencies During Recent Activities of Other Other of Activities Recent rd, manned Points of Distribution (PODs) in the aftermath of (PODs) inof Distribution the aftermath manned Points rd, Gua State Texas Hurricane Harvey. in theManagement Points aftermath , Guard manned Rico State Puerto Traffic of Hurricane Maria. a after operations rescue water swift conducted ard, Gu State Carolina South storm. tropical recent Force Defense State Georgia response to Hurricane Irma. Hurricane to response Ø Ø Ø Ø

61 26 state actors hostile to the US to hostile actors state - Alaska State Defense Force Defense State Alaska Emerging Homeland Security & Security Homeland Emerging Emergency Management Challenges Management Emergency concentration of responders in Southcentral Alaska inSouthcentral responders of concentration - Increased Arctic development and access and development Arctic Increased non of numbers Increasing Arctic in the Russia Resurgent severity and number storm in Increase in protection sea ice/community Decrease over Increasing Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø

62 27 expansion expansion More resilient More members trained ICS Network To the Community: To 1. 2. 3. Improved disciplined Improved technicalskills Improved Benefits Ø Ø Better trained employee trained Better To the Employer: To 1. 2. Supporting the community the Supporting 2. expansionNetwork 3. Stress copingskills. Stress Technical skills Technical Vets) (51% support Veterans expansionNetwork Discipline Ethics Prideinmembership values Army others for Respect Followership Hygiene/Healthnutrition and Tobacco/Drug/Alcohol abstention Timeliness To the Soldier: To 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

63 28 made) cause a - ) people, 2) Training, and and Training, 2) ) people, Resources we need and want to recruit Alaskans Alaskans who live and have we personalneed and desire want and tocommitment recruit to their family, – This This requires a commitment complete training in emergencies,handling strategies for resilience,building and other leadership courses.building and ASDF regularly attend monthly drills and training thejoin sessions To to willingness teach and lead other to understand A the plan, respond, and recover process a) b) c) disruption to the normal activities. Community member who trained and equipped to assist their community in responding, mitigating, and recovering frompersonnel that unexpected can majoract Trained quickly events.and decisive under pressure and demonstrate a professional demeanor that instill calm and assurance to community leaders and to citizens.all People friends, need and membersneighbors We to with be and able towithout makeprior a todifference the community. military and experience; lead during timewho can teach,when an event mentor, (natural or man equipment/resources. 1. What’s Needed What’s createneed ASDF the an Detachmentfollowing; effective 1 in Rural Communities, the To

64 29 1) people, 2) Training, and 1) people, 2) Training, made disasters or major This will events. - Resources on training scenarios (with evaluation protocols) - the ASDF LeadershipASDF understands in order to have themembers ready and capable of responding to a top exercises (with AARs and AARs Evaluations) top exercises (with - based instruction based on proven methods and techniques‘ - – – Classroom instructions from certified subject matter experts Web Table Hands Community demonstrations to promote support and confidentsbuild a) b) c) d) e) include, but not limited to: People Training major disruptive event, we must have people who have trained will to We react in a timely and decisive manner. provide the mechanism and tools for members to use their life experiences, professional and civilian military skills, and additional training in aspectall of responding to natural and man What’s Needed What’s createneed ASDF the an Detachmentfollowing; effective in Rural Communities, the To equipment/resources. 1. 2.

65 30 ) people, 2) Training, and and Training, 2) ) people, training, member perform will in a field exercise with - or replaced and the training process start again Resources additional additional to people and training, the program not will be with effective equipment and resources to live live event. - – – – We provide equipmentWe and resources for member to train; first in a classroom setting, then to train at slow none evaluated phase (walk) to see their classroom training in action, next at a faster pace with external participates in a tabletop phase. re After going through an evaluation and if necessary, other agencies and civilian, in an event simulating a real life scenario This process be repeatedwill until they are called on to respond to an event theaffecting community Afterward, the equipment/resource be repairedwill b) c) d) a) Training People Equipment train members, and to provide the necessary equipment to theallow member to have an opportunity to train on it prior to a real 2. equipment/resources. What’s Needed What’s createneed ASDF the an Detachmentfollowing; effective 1 in Rural Communities, the To 1. 3.

66 31 ) people, 2) Training, and and Training, 2) ) people, Resources Corporation, in order to accept donations from organizations and on training necessary to prepare member to ready and proficient in (C)(3) (C)(3) individuals toindividuals fund our training goals. equipment/resources, and Funds. Funds: have ASDF many of At thethis tool time,necessary theto recruit members in rural communities, and start the training Alaskans with many year process. know ofthere We militarynumerous experience, Rural other with many years of professionalcivilian Alaska. training and with all life experiences of and living surviving in Rural we have limited amount of equipment and However, resources to provide to rural detachment, so teams and can individuals acquire the necessary hands - responding and mitigating the ofeffective major event in a rural community/ need water We purification systems, HF/VHF radios, satellite communications system, uniform, extremely cold weather clothing, computers, internet connections, and funds to travel for training and recruitment. AFN, support hasAlaska ASDF receivedof someresourcesAlaska, funding fromfromfrom thethe StateThe of National Guard, and we have formed a 501 What’s Needed What’s createneed ASDF the an Detachmentfollowing; effective 1 in Rural Communities, the To

67 32 community, to enable the community, ) people, 2) Training, and and Training, 2) ) people, - stage resources in different hub - Resources The following The slides following are items Alaska State of Defense equipmentForce and need resourcesto be able theto provide meaningful, and effective safe training for its members, so they can be technical and tactical proficient, to respond to an foreseenAlaskans. event that is having an adverse affect on some of the items listedused will to pre Additionally, ASDF toASDF respond to an emergency in a reduce amount of time, and at a reduce cost. Third, some of the resources such travelmembers,ASDF and admin supportprovide trainingbe usedwill to train classes to community members, and exercise and planning execution grow ASDF in detachments and we will and personnel, additional funding As theand resources be necessary, will as informrequirement partners change and stakeholder, What’s Needed What’s createneed ASDF the an Detachmentfollowing; effective 1 in Rural Communities, the To equipment/resources, and Funds. 1. 2. 3. 4.

68 33 $120 K $120 DIL. JNU, FAI, KOD, DIL. JNU, FAI, Water Purification Units Units Purification Water , OME, KOT, , OME, KOT, Communities (HUBS = BET For 8 For OOT) Buys 16 X filters • •

69 34 $37,875 ) ) Extreme Clothing Cold Weather when possible ( Gortex Parka, Pants, Vapor Barrier (VB) Boots Boots (VB) Barrier Vapor Pants, Parka, Gortex For Soldiers conducting Domain Awareness Patrols Awareness DomainSoldiersconducting For Soldier per bottom and top Parka one for Pays Pants) & (Parka Soldiers$178.75 100 X for Sets Boots) (VB Soldiers$200.00 100 X for Set cost this willwarehouse offset state the through Procurement • • • • • o

70 35 cost $31,250 Tactical White Over Pants Pants Over White Tactical Pays for one Over White Pants per Soldiersregion incolder per Pants White Over one for Pays detachments Patrol Awareness Domain RuralUnitsperforming support Too Soldiers625.00 50 X for Sets this willwarehouse offset state the through Procurement ( when possible) • • • • •

71 36 $40,000 Meals Ready to Eat Eat to Ready Meals Pays for 5000 MREs statewide Detachment HQ be distributed at different To • •

72 37 $15,000 - ) $1950.00 $10,800.00 – - $1890.00 X Soldiers - ACUs ($ 81.25 per set) per 81.25 ($ ACUs set) per ($78.75 Pants Parka/ Gortex set) per ($450.00 Parka Cam Multi Arctic set) per ($625.00 Parka White Over Tactical $1001.00 $45, 040.96 for 24 $14,399.96 Example of the Cost for 24 Soldiers of equipment to be purchased include uniforms, radios , first aid supplies and Total per ( Total 24 x sets Arctic Multi Cam Parka 24 x sets Examples equipment necessary to reduce risk Army Combat Uniforms Cost of 24 x sets Cost of 24 x sets Gortex Parka/Pants Cost of 24 x sets Tactical Over White Parka/Pants Tactical Cost of 24 x sets - Tents Cost of 4 x Cost of 4 x Stoves - • • • • • • •

73 38 $20,000 $10,000 $10,000 $40,000 $20,000 $10,000 AdditionalEquipment Medical aide bags Generator/battery/inverter cable and tent floor repair kit Tent heaters Tent Miscellaneous admin requirements Portable generators (Honda 2200) 10 X $2000 • • • • • •

74 39 $40,000 Per Diem and Air Fare Per Diem and trips per year, from each location trips per year, Pays for airfare two Soldiers to travel Bethel,, Kotzebu e, Nome and Dillingham establish new detachments conduct Resilien cy Training 2 X Soldiers for 8 are not available Armories or hotel/schools when armories Overnight in • • •

75 40 $7,500 $2,700 $50,000 $7,500 $5,500 $20,000 $7,500 $80,000 $100,000 $150,000 $25,000 - line and Wireless) Support Support J ohnson 5100) re - programming - TF Executive Director (+travel) Computer software licensing HF Radio (ICOM 810) at 8 location Antennae HF Radio Patrol Radio (EF Sat phone Service sat phone (for Little Diomedes) Spotting scope, binocular, Internet at Kotzebue, Bethel, Nome, Dillingham (Land ASDF Administrator (+travel) ASDF AVR Admin/Logistic Specialist X 3 Travel Administration and Recruitment • • • • • • Personnel • • • • Services: •

76 41 DEFEND ALASKA! DEFEND ) Questions? Brown 2351 Village Resilience Task Force (AVRTF Force Village Resilience Task )Simon 632 - Alaska [email protected] LTC(AK Executive DirectorExecutive 907 - Points of Contact of Points 6819 John James John 428 - [email protected] Alaska State Defense Force (ASDF) Force Defense Alaska State COL(AK) COL(AK) Commander Commander 907 - j

77

Alaska Day Briefing on Public Safety

79

Public Safety and Security in Greenland, Arctic Canada, and Alaska

Julie Kitka, President Alaska Federation of Natives 3000 A Street, Suite 210 Anchorage, AK 99503

December 2018 Public Safety and Security in Greenland, Arctic Canada, and Alaska

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 84

Disaster Organization in Greenland 85 Shared Jurisdiction Greenland Department of Environment and Contingency Management Joint Arctic Command Chief Constable of Greenland Danish Emergency Management Agency Additional Greenland Observations

Disaster Organization in Arctic Canada 88 Canadian Armed Forces Canadian Coast Guard Public Safety Canada Example of Another Federal Department’s Involvement Yukon Emergency Measures Organization Northwest Territories Emergency Management Organization Nunavut Emergency Management Royal Canadian Mounted Police ADDITIONAL CANADA OBSERVATIONS Disaster Organization in Alaska 93 U.S. Northern Command U.S. Coast Guard Alaska (Seventeenth District) Alaska National Guard Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Federal Emergency Management Agency Example of Other Relevant Agencies: Secretary of State Village Public Safety Officer Program Public Safety and Community Policing … Department of Justice Additional Alaska / United States Observations

Selected General Disaster References Relevant for the North American Arctic 97 INTRODUCTION This short report provides a brief overview of public safety and security organizations in Greenland, Arctic Canada, and Alaska. This summary focuses primarily on disaster preparedness and response. Disaster resilience and disaster risk reduction are also important areas areas of concern, but they are only briefly touched upon here.

The primary concerns that fall under public safety and security can be defined in many ways. One useful set of definitions, from a Northern perspective, is that used by the Government of Iceland1 that includes natural catastrophes, epidemics, terrorist actions, international organized crime, environmental threats of various types, the risk of pandemics, risk of nuclear accidents, proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons, disruption or destruction of the country’s infrastructure, such as computer, telecommunications, energy and financial systems, clashes between cultures, etc.

The information in this report is intended to provide an overview comparing and contrasting disaster preparedness and response organization in these three countries at a high level, without extensive, in-depth analysis.

One can observe that in Greenland, disaster preparedness structures are organized to deal with three principal issues: oil spills; (including cruise ships); and, to a lesser degree, terrorism. Whereas in Alaska, being located on the Pacific ring of fire adds substantially to the risk of earthquakes and tsunamis. Other factors such as erosion, related in part to climate change, are also significant challenges in Alaska. It is accurate to say that wildfire risks in Alaska and the Yukon outweigh similar risks further east.

Another conspicuous difference is the organizational complexity in Greenland. One analyst observes: “The governance structure consists of both Danish, Greenlandic and mixed Danish-Greenlandic authorities, with and without decision-making power, with or without operational control over available search and rescue resources, which are either fully or only partly available for search and rescue and oil spill response purposes, with military or/and civil tasks, and with overall national or/ and local authority.”2

1 Government Offices of Iceland, Public Safety and Security, https://www.government.is/topics/public-safety-and-security/ 2 “Maritime preparedness systems in the Arctic: institutional arrangements and potential for collaboration” Nord University, Bodø, May 4, 2018, https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2501164/FoURapport272018.pdf?sequence=5

84 DISASTER ORGANIZATION IN GREENLAND Shared Jurisdiction3 The institutional framework and governance structure of the preparedness system of Greenland are complicated. As a self-governing sub-state within the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland has only limited responsibility for emergency preparedness. As part of the self-governance arrangement of Greenland a number of policy areas have been transferred to Greenlandic authorities, while other policy areas remain with Danish authorities.

Generally speaking, Greenlandic authorities for the environment are responsible for ocean areas that are within three nautical miles from land. Denmark has jurisdiction of the marine environment from the three nautical mile limit and out to 200 nautical miles.

The operating authorities in Search and Rescue situations are the Greenland Police in case of situations in coastal waters and the Danish Joint Arctic Command in situations outside coastal waters.

In the case of Oil Spill Response, there is also a division of labor and responsibilities between Danish and Greenlandic authorities. The Government of Greenland, in practical terms the municipal fire brigades, has response responsibility within the three nautical miles limit. The Government of Denmark, in practical terms the Danish Joint Arctic Command, is responsible within the 200 nautical mile limit.

One source notes that, formally, the level of Terrorist Threat is the same for all parts of Denmark and, therefore the same level in Greenland as in Denmark. Currently, according to the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, the threat is “serious.” There is no actual example of a terrorist attack in Greenland. Counterterrorist actions would have to rely on resources based in Denmark or abroad.

Greenland Department of Environment and Contingency Management The principal Greenland government agency for disaster matters is the Department of Environment and Contingency Management.4 The department concerns itself with the safety of citizens and measures related to accidents and disasters.

Particularly relevant aspects of the Department’s work include Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Contingency Management. The Greenland Department of Environment and Contingency Management also provides the secretariat function for the Emergency Services Commission.

The purpose of Environmental Emergency Preparedness is to combat oil and chemical pollution that can harm the environment. Activities are divided into two areas of responsibility, land and sea. Environmental emergency preparedness personnel and equipment are located at fire stations in 12 Greenland towns.

3 “Maritime preparedness systems in the Arctic: institutional arrangements and potential for collaboration” Nord University, Bodø, May 4, 2018, https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2501164/FoURapport272018. pdf?sequence=5 4 Department of Environment and Contingency Management, Government of Greenland, https://naalakkersuisut.gl/en/ Naalakkersuisut/Departments/Natur-Miljoe/Miljoe-og-beredskabsafd

85 The Department definesContingency Management as all about being prepared. Activities include the management and control of import, storage, distribution, and use of explosives. In collaboration with the police, announced and unannounced inspections are carried out at explosives magazines and construction sites where explosives are used. With regard to fire service, advisory services and training are provided to municipal fire services related to the Emergency Preparedness Act and daily operations.

Other departments of the Government of Greenland may also be involved in disaster activities. For example, the Environment Agency for Mineral Resources Activities is responsible for the marine environment in relation to mining activities, regardless of where the activity takes place.

To support crisis management, the Emergency Services Commission is the organizational focal point for policy and crisis management between the Greenlandic and Danish authorities. It has the mandate to advise and inform the political system, including the Government of Greenland, municipal mayors, and state authorities on matters of emergency.

The Emergency Services Commission’s objective is the coordination of measures and resources to ensure that there is the necessary political backing and financial support for operational efforts during a crisis. Authorities at the operational level request the Commission to rule on selected issues.

While the Commission provides a basis for a coordinated use of Greenlandic and Danish resources in case of catastrophes, it has no independent decision-making power. Its primary role is to ensure the preparation of a contingency plan for all of Greenland, and that this plan is continuously updated.

Joint Arctic Command The Danish Joint Arctic Command is headquartered in Nuuk, Greenland. The Command’s main tasks are surveillance and enforcement of sovereignty and the military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Its other tasks include fishing vessel inspection, search and rescue, maritime pollution prevention, hydrographic surveys, and miscellaneous support to the civilian society. The Joint Arctic Command is a joint operational command with personnel from each of the three services.5

The Joint Arctic Command organized search and rescue exercises in 2012 and 2013 in Greenland waters, including a focus on an oil spill scenario. Lessons learned include:

• The Joint Arctic Command needs to review and update contingency plans for major accidents at sea. • The sparse population and the distances involved in the high Arctic put a limit to what ships can be made available for search and rescue within a reasonable timeframe. • Other resources, apart from ships, can be flown in quickly from farther away, using strategic air transport. • Helicopters on Arctic patrol and ships are essential to some search and rescue efforts. • There are technical challenges to communication in the high Arctic.

5 Joint Arctic Command, https://www2.forsvaret.dk/eng/Organisation/ArcticCommand/Pages/ArcticCommand.aspx

86 Chief Constable of Greenland6 Greenlandic parliamentary legislation addressing emergency preparedness in Greenland states that the joint actions in case of accidents and disasters are coordinated by the Chief Constable of Greenland.

The Chief Constable in Greenland is responsible for the Land and Local Maritime Search and Rescue Service in Nuuk. The police are responsible for directing the search and rescue operations in local waters and on land, for pollution control outside the three-mile limit, and for assistance to other operators.

Danish Emergency Management Agency7 The relevant Danish legislation is not in force in Greenland, although one can find references, perhaps no longer valid, to such legislation being enforcable in Greenland by Royal Ordinance. Whatever the legal dimensions, one can anticipate special cooperation from this organization under certain disaster circumstances. From a North American perspective, it is just an agency to be aware of peripherally.

Additional Greenland Observations Greenland Oil Spill Response is a company owned by the Government of Greenland. The company’s aim is to operate on a commercial basis on oil pollution preparedness, oil pollution control, environmental clean-up after oil spills, and other related activities within the mineral resources area in Greenland. The company, together with 12 other research institutes and companies, has formed a consortium with the purpose of researching and improving Arctic oil spill response. http://www.gosr.gl/uk11

The Greenland Representation addresses bilateral relations between Greenland and the United States and Greenland and Canada. This could be a contact point with respect to disaster preparedness, disaster response, and disaster risk reduction in the North American Arctic. Head of Representation: Inuuteq Holm Olsen, [email protected] First Secretary: Rebecca Lynge, [email protected] 3200 Whitehaven St. NW Washington, D.C. 20008 Tel: (202) 797 5392 https://naalakkersuisut.gl/en/Naalakkersuisut/Groenlands-repraesentation-Washington

The University of Greenland has participated in disaster studies. Two researchers identified are Birger Poppel and Uffe Jakobsen. https://uk.uni.gl/ https://uk.uni.gl/find-employee/institute-of-learning/birger-poppel.aspx https://uk.uni.gl/find-employee/department-of-social-science/uffe-jakobsen.aspx

6 Unverified and dated reporting suggests that there are seventeen police districts under the command of the Chief Constable in Nuuk. The Chief Constable is said to have responsibility for not only routine police work but also holds the position of public prosecutor. “Comparative law and justice / Greenland,” November 29, 2009, https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Comparative_law_ and_justice/Greenland 7 The Emergency Management Act, Danish Emergency Management Agency, July 2, 2009, https://brs.dk/eng/legislation/act/ pages/the_emergency_management_act.aspx

87 DISASTER ORGANIZATION IN ARCTIC CANADA Canadian Armed Forces8 Canada’s contributions to Arctic security are a key part of the Canada-United States defense relationship.

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) operation NANOOK takes place each year across the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Labrador. The operation responds to safety and security issues in the North. It features up to five deployments throughout the year.

CAF works with key allies and partners to be more effective in the North. Partners include international military partners, other Canadian federal departments and agencies, territorial and Indigenous governments, and local organizations.

CAF acknowledges that Indigenous communities are at the heart of Canada’s North. CAF works to deepen its relationships with these communities, particularly through collaborative and continuous discourse throughout the year.

While somewhat dated, a succinct source of information about Canada’s armed forces in the Arctic can be found in the publication below. Of particular interest is the information about the Canadian Rangers, the military’s permanent northern presence. “The Canadian Armed Forces in the Arctic: Purpose, Capabilities, and Requirements” May 2015 https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/cdfai/pages/544/attachments/original/1432260016/ Canadian_Armed_Forces_in_the_Arctic.pdf?1432260016

Canadian Coast Guard9 The Canadian Coast Guard is a special operating agency within the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

The Coast Guard ensures the safety of all mariners on Canadian waters, protects the marine environment, and supports economic growth through the safe and efficient movement of maritime trade in and out of Canada’s waters.

Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan has four main priority areas:

• Strengthening partnerships and launching co-management practices with Indigenous communities, including building local emergency response capacity. • Creating a world-leading marine safety system that improves responsible shipping and protects Canada’s waters, including new preventive and response measures. • Restoring and protecting the marine ecosystems and habitats, using new tools and research. • Investing in oil spill cleanup research and methods to ensure that decisions taken in emergencies are evidence based.

8 “Operation NANOOK,” National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/operations-canada- north-america-recurring/op-nanook.page 9 Canadian Coast Guard, http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/eng/CCG/Who_We_Are

88 The Coast Guard responds to marine disasters and emergencies with one of the most effective maritime search and rescue systems in the world. The Coast Guard is supported by the air assets and personnel of the Canadian Armed Forces along with the maritime assets and volunteers of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary.

The Coast Guard is a visible symbol of federal presence and provides capacity to assert Canadian sovereignty in Canadian territorial waters, especially in the Arctic.

Public Safety Canada10 Public Safety Canada (PSC) is a department of the federal government. PSC breaks down emergency management into four functions: prevention/mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. This brief summary addresses only response and preparedness.

A very quick review of PSC’s departmental plan for 2018/1911 does not find much emphasis on Arctic Canada.

In Arctic Canada, as with the rest of the country, responding to emergencies is managed first at the local level: hospitals, fire departments, police, and municipalities. If local authorities need assistance, they request it from the provinces or territories. If the emergency escalates beyond their capabilities, the provinces or territories seek assistance from the federal government.

Of particular note, PSC maintains the national Government Operations Centre to monitor emerging threats and manage whole-of-government response. The Centre provides an all-hazards integrated federal emergency response to events (potential or actual, natural or human-induced, accidental or intentional) of national interest. Response management is principally the coordinated implementation of plans or established processes in concert with all partners to ensure a harmonized response to the event.

PSC also houses the National Search and Rescue Secretariat that is responsible for managing and coordinating Canada’s search and rescue with federal, provincial and territorial partners, and fostering interoperability and coordination within the search and rescue community. The Secretariat also focuses on international coordination.

As regards PSC’s emergency preparedness activities, emergency management exercises are of particular interest. Government, first responders, and military officials work together in exercises that simulate emergency scenarios such as natural disasters, health threats, and terrorist attacks. The exercises validate plans, provide training, and expose areas for improvement.

There is a National Exercise Program seeking to continuously improve emergency management in Canada. The program includes both domestic and international exercises.

10 Public Safety Canada, https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/index-en.aspx 11 Public Safety Canada Departmental Plan 2018/19, https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/dprtmntl-pln-2018-19/ index-en.aspx

89 Example of Another Federal Department’s Involvement Transport Canada is the lead federal regulatory agency responsible for the Marine Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Regime.12 Within the framework of the regime, Transport Canada sets the guidelines and regulatory structure for the preparedness and response to marine oil spills across the country, including the Arctic. The regime is built on the principle of cascading resources, which means that in the event of a spill, the resources of a specific area can be supplemented with those from other regions or from Canada’s international partners, as needed.

Yukon Emergency Measures Organization13 The Government of Yukon’s Emergency Coordination Plan14 is a framework of strategies including the roles and responsibilities across government. The plan is comprehensive and informative, but dates from December 2011.

Examining the role of Yukon First Nations in particular, a self-governing First Nation’s emergency coordinator would manage a localized emergency event on First Nation lands by enacting its emergency plan and would keep the Yukon emergency management organization informed. If the First Nation does not have an emergency plan in place or the emergency event is beyond the local First Nation’s resources to manage, the First Nation may request emergency assistance from neighboring municipalities or other First Nations, if mutual aid agreements are established, or from the Yukon Government. In the absence of First Nation civil emergency measures legislation, the Cabinet may declare a State of Emergency on the First Nation land and may take action to manage the event even when First Nation land and citizens would be affected.

Should an emergency event be beyond Yukon’s responsibilities or capabilities, the Government of Canada through the Department of Public Safety Canada, the Canadian Armed Forces, or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police may become active. (The same will be true in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.)

Northwest Territories Emergency Management Organization15 It is worth noting that the Northwest Territories (NWT) places particular emphasis on flooding. The risk of flooding is high for a number of communities in the NWT. Most flooding occurs along the Mackenzie River and other waterways as a result of ice jams during the spring break-up period. A brochure16 informing the public about how to prepare for floods has been prepared.

Particular attention is also given to wildfire risk facing many communities.

12 National Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Regime, https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/oep-ers-regime-menu-1780. htm 13 Yukon Emergency Measures Organization, http://www.community.gov.yk.ca/protectiveservices/preparedyukon.html 14 Yukon Government Emergency Coordination Plan, December 2011, http://www.community.gov.yk.ca/protectiveservices/pdf/ YG_Emergency_Coordination_Plan.pdf 15 NWT Municipal and Community Affairs, Emergency Preparedness, http://www.maca.gov.nt.ca/en/services/emergency- preparedness 16 Preparing for Emergencies: Floods, https://www.maca.gov.nt.ca/sites/maca/files/gnwt_7020_emergency_flood_brochure_ wr.pdf

90 Nunavut Emergency Management17 Nunavut Emergency Management is responsible for the Emergency Measures Organization and the support of search and rescue operations throughout Nunavut.

The Emergency Management Organization provides overall advice and guidance, and ensures compliance with mandatory Territorial and Federal legislation and policy regarding emergency management. It is responsible for emergency preparedness plans and provides assistance to Nunavut communities in creating their own plans.

They also provide training to search and rescue organizations and assists with equipment and communications systems.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police18 The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) provide community policing services under contract to the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut (and most provinces). An important RCMP role is operational readiness for major emergencies or disasters. Other areas of priority include:

• Contributing to safer and healthier Indigenous communities • Supporting crime prevention, intervention, and enforcement initiatives • Preventing and reducing youth involvement in crime as victims and offenders

The RCMP’s lndigenous Relations Services group works closely with Indigenous groups to develop innovative policing approaches that meet their distinctive needs. There are a number of Indigenous programs and initiatives, including the following:

• Commissioner’s National Indigenous Advisory Committee • Indigenous Perceptions Training • Inuit Perceptions Training • Annual Performance Plans, which address an offence or negative social issue that concerns the community

Public Safety Canada provides funding to support policing services that are professional, dedicated, and responsive to the First Nation and Inuit communities they serve. In Arctic Canada, and elsewhere, the RCMP supports this First Nations Policing Policy.19

There are two main types of policing agreements:

• Self-administered Police Service Agreements, where a First Nation or Inuit community manages its own police service under provincial/territorial policing legislation and regulations • Community Tripartite Agreements, where a dedicated contingent of officers from the RCMP provides policing services to a First Nation or Inuit community

17 Department of Community and Government Services, Nunavut Emergency Management, https://www.gov.nu.ca/community- and-government-services/information/nunavut-emergency-management-0 18 RCMP Strategic Priorities, http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/prior/index-eng.htm#ac 19 Public Safety Canada, Policing in Indigenous Communities, https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/plcng/brgnl- plcng/index-en.aspx

91 ADDITIONAL CANADA OBSERVATIONS Of perhaps peripheral interest is Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART). DART is made up of Canadian Armed Forces and civilian experts trained and ready to deploy on short notice plus equipment maintained for immediate response. Canada sends DART to help when natural disasters and emergencies happen in other countries. Canada sends DART on request, when local responders are overwhelmed. http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/operations-abroad-recurring/dart.page

92 DISASTER ORGANIZATION IN ALASKA U.S. Northern Command20 U.S. Northern Command’s (USNORTHCOM) civil support mission includes domestic disaster relief operations that occur during fires, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. Support also includes managing the consequences of a terrorist event employing a weapon of mass destruction.

The command provides assistance to a primary agency. Military forces can provide civil support but cannot become directly involved in law enforcement.

An emergency must exceed the capabilities of local, state, and federal agencies before USNORTHCOM becomes involved. In most cases, support will be limited, localized, and specific.

When the scope of the disaster is reduced to the point that the primary agency can again assume full control and management without military assistance, USNORTHCOM will exit.

U.S. Coast Guard Alaska (Seventeenth District)21 U.S. Coast Guard Alaska (Seventeenth District) is based in Juneau, Anchorage, and Kodiak. Its mission is to serve and safeguard the public, protect the environment and its resources, and defend the Nation’s interests in the Alaskan maritime region. The Coast Guard is the nation’s lead federal agency for ensuring maritime safety and security in the Arctic.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s Arctic Strategy objectives are improving awareness, broadening partnerships, and modernizing governance.

Arctic Shield operations are of particular note; Arctic Shield 2018 objectives included:

• Performing Coast Guard missions and activities in the Arctic • Enhancing Arctic Maritime Domain Awareness • Broadening partnerships in support of Coast Guard Arctic operations • Enhancing and improving preparedness, prevention, and response capabilities

A quick look at the results of the 2017 Arctic Shield operation finds that several professional exchanges and joint operations were conducted with the Royal Canadian Navy and Coast Guard.

Alaska National Guard22 The Alaska Army National Guard provides protection of life and property and preserves peace, order, and public safety. These missions are accomplished through emergency relief support during natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, and forest fires; search and rescue operations; support to civil defense authorities; and maintenance of vital public services and counterdrug operations.

20 U.S. Northern Command, http://www.northcom.mil/ 21 U.S. Coast Guard Alaska (Seventeenth District), https://www.news.uscg.mil/News-by-Region/17th-District-Alaska/ 22 Alaska National Guard, https://dmva.alaska.gov/AKNG/

93 The Alaska Air National Guard provides mission ready forces and protects the public safety of the citizens of Alaska by providing military support to civil authorities during natural disasters and other natural emergencies, and providing service and support to local communities.

The Alaska National Guard has made use of the National Guard State Partnership program to build an international relationship with Mongolia.23 The State Partnership Program facilitates the exchange of ideas, capabilities, training, and experience between a host country and a state’s National Guard. The National Guard program is in its 25th year and includes partnerships with 75 nations around the globe.

Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management24 The mission of Alaska’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is to lead the way in homeland security and emergency management and to foster a prepared, resilient Alaska capable of meeting the needs of its communities and citizens in response to all-hazards events.

An interesting feature of the Alaska Division of Homeland Security’s work is its cooperation with the private sector. The Alaska Partnership for Infrastructure Protection integrates private and public sector critical infrastructure owners into the municipal, state, and federal emergency framework, participating in all stages of the disaster cycle, from preparedness and mitigation through to response and recovery.

A very informative, if somewhat dated, source of information is the following report. The State of Alaska 2011 Emergency Operations Plan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management https://www.poa.usace.army.mil/Portals/34/docs/AKdistrict StateofAlaskaEmergencyOperationsPlan2011.pdf

Conceptually, the 2011 report addresses five entities: the incident management structure employed at the local level; the State Multi-Agency Coordination Group; the State Emergency Operations Center; the federal response organization; and business and industry.

Perhaps relevant to the particular context of this brief, the 2011 report mentions that Alaska is a signatory to the Pacific Northwest Emergency Management Arrangement. The Yukon is also a party to this arrangement, as are other jurisdictions.

Federal Emergency Management Agency25 Recent disaster challenges in Alaska illustrate one role of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — FEMA is authorized to coordinate all disaster relief efforts; to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures to save lives and to protect property and public health

23 “Alaska National Guard teams up with Mongolian forces for Disaster Management Leadership Seminar,” October 12, 2016, https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/State-Partnership-Program/Article/971502/alaska-national-guard-teams-up-with- mongolian-forces-for-disaster-management-le/ 24 Alaska Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, http://ready.alaska.gov/ 25 “President Donald J. Trump Signs Emergency Declaration for Alaska,” FEMA, November 30, 2018, https://www.fema.gov/ news-release/2018/11/30/president-donald-j-trump-signs-emergency-declaration-alaska

94 and safety; and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in Anchorage Municipality, Kenai Peninsula , and Matanuska-Susitna Borough counties.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance under Public Assistance program, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding.

Example of Other Relevant Agencies: Secretary of State A domestic incident may have international and diplomatic implications that call for coordination and consultation with foreign governments and international organizations.

The Secretary of State26 is responsible for all communication and coordination between the U.S. Government and other nations regarding the response to a domestic crisis. The Department of State also coordinates international offers of assistance and formally accepts or declines these offers on behalf of the U.S. Government. The Secretary of State may be important to any new North American disaster initiative, as would be like authorities in Canada and Greenland/Denmark.

Village Public Safety Officer Program The Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) program began in the late 1970s as a means of providing rural Alaskan communities with needed public safety services at the local level. The program was created to reduce the loss of life due to fires, drowning, lost person, and the lack of immediate emergency medical assistance in rural communities.27 This valuable program is contracted out to tribal consortiums and is a well-accepted program, even though it is underfunded. Tribes and tribal consortiums have been meeting to redesign the program to make it more responsive to current needs.

The purpose of the VPSO program includes training and employing individuals as first responders. Public safety emergencies may include search and rescue, fire protection, emergency medical assistance, crime prevention, and basic law enforcement. VPSOs are generally the first to respond to calls for help from community members. The presence of these officers has a significant impact on improving the quality of life in the participating villages. Communities rely on VPSOs for law enforcement, as well as community leadership, in the event of emergencies and search and rescues.28

A recent and informative article on VPSOs follows. The article also touches upon the roles of Tribal Police Officers, Village Police Officers, and Certified Police Officers. “High referral rate for VPSO-assisted sex assault cases” Alaska Justice Forum Spring 2018 https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/bitstream/handle/11122/8231/ajf.344a.vpso-first-responder.pdf

26 National Response Framework, Homeland Security, June 2016, https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1466014682982-9bc f8245ba4c60c120aa915abe74e15d/National_Response_Framework3rd.pdf 27 Village Public Safety Officer Program, https://dps.alaska.gov/AST/VPSO/Home 28 Village Public Safety Officer Program, https://www.avcp.org/services/vpso/

95 Public Safety and Community Policing … Department of Justice29 Using the Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation, and under the Community Oriented Policing Services Office, the U.S. Department of Justice offers funding for Public Safety and Community Policing (Purpose Area #1). Funding is designed to expand the implementation of community policing and meet the most serious needs of law enforcement in Tribal Nations through a broadened comprehensive program.

The funding can be used to hire or re-hire, full-time career law enforcement officers and village public safety officers, as well as to procure basic equipment and training to assist in the initiation or enhancement of Tribal community policing efforts.

Here are the goals of the initiative:

• Proactively address the most serious Tribal law enforcement needs • Increase the capacity of Tribal law enforcement agencies for safer communities • Enhance Tribal law enforcement’s capacity to prevent, solve, and control crime, engage in anti- methamphetamine/anti-opioid activities, and address human trafficking • Implement or enhance community policing strategies • Engage in strategic planning for law enforcement

Please note that a general overview webinar for the fiscal year 2019 Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation application was held on December 13, 2018. Other webinars follow. https://www.justice.gov/tribal/webinars

Additional Alaska / United States Observations The Center for Excellence in Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance is a U.S. Department of Defense organization reporting to the U.S. Pacific Command. Disaster management reference handbooks are prepared that provide a baseline of information regarding countries most prone to disasters. The Center increases the readiness of U.S. forces, civilian and military counterparts, and international partners to respond to disasters through civil-military coordination, training, information sharing, and regional planning. There is little Arctic focus to date. https://www.cfe-dmha.org/DMHA-Resources/Disaster-Management-Reference-Handbooks

Homeland Security’s National Response Framework describes the doctrine under which the nation responds to incidents. The priorities are to save lives, protect property and the environment, stabilize the incident, and provide for basic human needs. Guiding principles: engaged partnership; tiered response; scalable, flexible, and adaptable operational capabilities; unity of effort through unified command; and readiness to act. https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1466014682982-9bcf8245ba4c60c120aa915abe74e15d/ National_Response_Framework3rd.pdf

29 Public Safety and Community Policing, https://www.justice.gov/tribal/page/file/1114966/download

96 SELECTED GENERAL DISASTER REFERENCES RELEVANT FOR THE NORTH AMERICAN ARCTIC

The Arctic Council Working Group on Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response is mandated to contribute to the prevention, preparedness, and response to environmental and other emergencies, accidents, and search and rescue. The group recognizes that harsh conditions and limited infrastructure in much of the Arctic increase risks and impacts and hinder response activities. Actions for prevention, preparedness, and response must be carefully pre-planned and adapted to the conditions and remoteness of the Arctic to maximize the use of available resources. (Reflecting the importance of military/civil cooperation in disaster matters, the Canadian co-chair is with the Canadian Coast Guard.) https://arctic-council.org/index.php/en/about-us/working-groups/eppr

The Arctic Coast Guard Forum is an independent, informal, operationally-driven organization, not bound by treaty, to foster safe, secure, and environmentally responsible maritime activity in the Arctic. Goals include building a common operational picture to ensure proper protocols for emergency response coordination. https://www.arcticcoastguardforum.com/

The Maritime Preparedness and International Partnership in the High North project addresses, from a largely European perspective, three preparedness fields: search and rescue; oil spill response; and counterterrorism. “Maritime preparedness systems in the Arctic: institutional arrangements and potential for collaboration” Nord University, Bodø May 4, 2018 https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2501164/FoURapport272018. pdf?sequence=5

The Thematic Network on Arctic Safety and Security is an extended academic network. The University of Alaska Fairbanks and the United States Coast Guard Academy are participants. The network includes two sub-groups, tourism safety and emergency preparedness. Cross-border cooperation and optimal use of the preparedness resources of the Arctic countries are highlighted. https://www.uarctic.org/organization/thematic-networks/arctic-safety-and-security/

The recommendations of a recent American Red Cross overview of response capacity in the Arctic include: strengthening volunteer management; enhancing response capacities for major emergencies; and increasing cooperation with Indigenous communities and others. “Red Cross Arctic Disaster Management Study” September 5, 2018 https://reliefweb.int/report/world/red-cross-arctic-disaster-management-study

Lastly, the private sector, especially the oil industry has well developed disaster management programs that cover the area or sector they operate in.

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