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Glenn Godfrey Law Enforcement: Check of rural well-being

Published on November 16th, 2009

By ALEX DEMARBAN

The number of village public safety officers in the Bethel region has jumped from 16 to 21 in less than three years.

It's expected to jump to 24 in the coming weeks, officials in Bethel said.

The increased growth has come under the watch of Alvin Jimmie, a former VPSO who runs the Southwest Alaska region's program for the Association of Village Council Presidents.

The Alaska Federation of Natives recently awarded its first-ever Glenn Godfrey Law Enforcement Award to Jimmie.

Jimmie, who has been on the job just two and a half years, is quick to share the praise.

The state has provided extra resources to boost the program and a variety of organizations have pitched in to help, he said.

Also, the village officers and the communities who must find housing for them deserve credit too, Jimmie said.

Some village officers live with their parents, a hassle for everyone in the house when a late-night call comes in and the officers must respond, Jimmie said.

A few other officers don't even have snowmachines or four-wheelers to get around. For example, in the Southwest community of Toksook Bay, the village officer there has to run to emergencies, possibly as far as two miles.

The officer there is in great shape, Jimmie said.

Jimmie also thanked the new partner the state gave him.

Perry Barr, a state trooper from Bethel, has been tasked to work with Jimmie to boost VPSO numbers.

They'd like to see at least 56 village police officers, one for each community in the region, Barr said. And, instead of just having one VPSO per village, which is currently the standard, there should be more than one in larger communities or those with high crime rates.

"We gotta dream big," Barr said.

Village public safety officers are the state's law enforcement eyes and ears in the villages. They're trained by troopers - who operate out of scattered posts - and investigate smaller crimes.

They manage big crime scenes until troopers arrive to take the case, such as for homicides.

Statewide, the VPSO program has grown, but several villages still have no law enforcement.

The program's growth is thanks in large part to increased salaries and more recruiting. For example, at the AFN annual convention last month, the Department of Public Safety aired a recruiting video one day, featuring the Bethel-region officers.

"We're getting a lot of calls from that," Jimmie said.

Candidates are even applying from the Lower 48, he said.

Still, 13 positions statewide remain vacant in other regions of Alaska. Jimmie said he wants state officials to give his region those positions.

"I'll say bring the funding to my end, let me fill that," he said.

Jimmie said he'll do all he can to make life better for the VPSOs.

He's searching for funding from a variety of organizations to provide such things as housing. He'll take his case to the Legislature if he's asked.

"I'm going to jump and holler and say, 'Let's talk about it.' Oh sir, I am!"

He'd like each VPSO to have their own house, good jail facilities and at least a four-wheeler or snowmachine.

The VPSOs need all the help they can get because it's a tough job, Jimmie said.

A Yup'ik man from the Bethel region, Jimmie served as a VPSO for 16 years living in three different villages, including Kwigillingok.

VPSOs are on call 24/7 and often work alone. They're often some of the first people to witness suicides and murder scenes. Because villages are close-knit, the crimes might involve family members.

"I can fairly tell you one VPSO had to arrest his only son," Jimmie said.

The work is stressful on a VPSO's family too, he said.

When Jimmie was a VPSO, other children picked on his son because his dad was the local cop. Angry residents sometimes chewed out his wife.

"When I was a VPSO, they say they gonna kill my family, they're going to do this and that," he said.