Crime was the topic for lawmakers at the Alaska State Capitol over the last two days, as more than two dozen invited guests looked at ways to reduce the problem in the state.
The summit, sponsored by the Senate Judiciary Committee, invited familiar faces to Juneau to discuss different aspects of crime in Alaska.
Anchorage Police Department Chief Mark Mew was on hand to talk about some good news when it comes to deaths caused by drunk drivers.
"Ten years ago, there were 20 fatalities in Anchorage, and last year we got it down to three," Mew told the committee. "We just launched our 'Zero for '12' campaign: we are consciously telling everyone that this year, nobody gets killed in an alcohol collision in Anchorage."
Reacting to those statistics was Sen. Hollis French (D-Anchorage), who chaired the meeting.
"These cases make news, these cases make laws, because it takes only one or two of these cases, and we react," French said.
Others spoke to the committee about how Alaska's third-party custodian system, which requires someone else to look after people charged with crimes if they make bail, needs reform -- and they came armed with ideas.
Dennis Johnson told the lawmakers people can easily get around the custodian requirement, so he started up Alaska Pretrial Services: a non-profit that monitors people with an ankle bracelet, instead of a third person. It's already being used in Anchorage.
"Let's make a program that we can put into the system, and put into place, that allows for nobody else to have to be a victim because of such a correctable, and solvable problem within our bail statute," Johnson said.
Sen. Lesil McGuire (R-Anchorage) says she was most interested in a study from a Washington state statistician who testified on the importance of pre-school in future crime prevention.
"(Washington state) put into place an opportunity for 3- and 4-year-olds to attend preschool and they have seen their crime rates drop, so there is a direct correlation between early education and prevention of crime later on," McGuire said.
Even though a lot of the ideas presented here may cost more money, she says they may be better than the alternative.
"If our crime rates continue to grow, we can't keep building jail after jail after jail," McGuire said. "We can't afford to do that, so we're going to have to be smart about how we attack these statistics."
Email Jason Lamb
