ANCHORAGE, Alaska—
year."Weeks argues by filling in the finding gap and adding additional investigative resources, ICAC detectives
could specifically focus on preventing crimes against children.
Couturier, on the other hand, believes his resources are adequate for the task force, and he prioritizes
cases as needed. Alaska’s ICAC commander believes the key to prevention is public education.
In 2010, APD gave 120 community presentations. Officers taught parents and families topics such as
how to avoid becoming a victim, how to recognize cyber bullying, and informing parents of the dangers
of “sexting.”
PROTECT sees community presentations as a distraction and believes ICAC’s primary goal should
be protecting children from falling prey to hands-on offenders. Weeks argues APD has a reactive, not
proactive, approach.
"So, when they tell you that everything's OK, and no children are at risk, it's a lie," Weeks tells Channel 2
News.
APD says this kind of logic is irresponsible, untrue and misrepresents the endless hours of hard work
performed by his team. "When it comes to the exploitation of children, what devil person would minimize
our ability to conduct those investigations… or fail to raise a flag if we had an inability to save our
children. I am not that person,” Couturier responds. “My investigators aren't those people."
State Of Emergency
PROTECT has appealed to the nation’s governors, including Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, to declare
a “State of Emergency,” an effort to bridge the funding gaps without necessary legislative approvals.