By Sentinel Staff
The Police and Fire Commission had two items on the agenda of its monthly meeting Wednesday night, a presentation on sex trafficking and the reconfiguration of traffic on American Street.
Sitka resident Susan Jensen made the presentation on sex trafficking, citing crime statistics showing that it is a serious problem in Alaska, and even occurs in Sitka. She concluded with suggested steps that Sitka should take to deal with it: acknowledge the problem, educate the public, and train city employees, educators, medical providers and first responders to recognize signs of sex trafficking.
On the American Street item, commission members heard comments from three members of the public, all with businesses on American Street, who spoke against the city’s action on May 13 making American Street one-way. Commission members said the commission had not been involved in the traffic reconfiguration, and unanimously passed a motion by Lloyd Platson and seconded by Leslie Young “to recommend that American Street revert back to a two-way street until there is more education and public notice on the change to the traffic pattern.”
