Sitka Police Department
Dear Editor: The men and women of the Sitka Police Department need your help. Currently, the Sitka PD is dangerously understaffed; there are only two police officers working during a given shift, and only one correctional officer.
What does this mean to the average Sitka resident? It means in an emergency, when a citizen calls the police to respond to an incident of family violence, a motor vehicle crash, an assault during bar closing, or a drunk driver, there is a good chance the police will only be able to send a single officer to respond.
While this may initially seem adequate, what it truly means is the people in need of immediate assistance will likely receive less than acceptable service. One police officer cannot effectively guarantee the safety of the people involved in an incident, innocent bystanders, or themselves, while at the same time conduct a thorough and accurate investigation. This is why a minimum of two officers are sent to calls for service throughout the rest of the state and the nation.
Please consider the ramifications of a potential uprising within the correctional facility at the Sitka PD. The Sitka Police Department currently houses up to five prisoners. Can a single corrections employee safely stop an escape from the facility?
Think of the low number of officers from the perspective of a resident in need of immediate assistance: during the early morning hours, imagine an unknown person is attempting to break in the front door of your residence. Unfortunately, one officer is busy with an arrested drunk driver, the other with a drunk and disorderly person at the ferry terminal. The police’s response time in this case will be significantly delayed. Is that acceptable? For a city of its size, Sitka needs a minimum of three officers on duty to be effective. There should be two officers working in the correctional facility. Unfortunately, while these numbers existed at one time, they have since been cut from the department. The current employees face low-morale, and burnout. This will cause more to leave, exacerbating the problem even more.
Please question your municipal administrators and assembly members as to why the police department is so understaffed. At this point, the men and women of Sitka PD have been keeping the community safe through hard work, and luck. However, luck will run out, and the lack of police protection will become blatantly obvious at a time when it was needed most, opening the city to tremendous liability. You can prevent this from happening.
Chris Gifford, Juneau
Pick. Click. Give.
Dear Editor: Point, peck, pay. No, no, no … Pick Click Give! That’s it!
Build a stronger community, avoid annoying solicitations, Pick. Click. Give.
Is this annoying? Sorry, but here goes: be part of the new Sitka museum building and the annual operations of the Sitka Historical Society by contributing a chunk, piece, bit, bite, smidgen of your Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend. That can be done online up to March 31, even if you have already filed your application.
Support your museum or other Sitka non-profits with your generous “future” gift. There! That is inclusive and also suggests that your Pick. Click. Give. donation will be tempered by time and offset by the electric thrill of that fine October pay out.
You are making history! Click, give. Keep Sitka’s stories part of your life, your community and your economic heritage.
John Stein,
Sitka Historical Society
and Museum President
