Communities outside city limits on the Kenai Peninsula are banding together in an effort to decrease crimes in their neighborhoods.
In light of what those residents deem extended response times by Alaska State Troopers, groups like the Sterling Brotherhood and the newly formed Deacons of Defense in Nikiski have gained support.
Sterling resident Kenny Merkes and his neighbor assisted Alaska State Troopers in a boat chase earlier this summer, retrieving a yellow canoe that alleged thieves were fleeing in.
Merkes: “We have a real tight knit community here, we’ve got a lot of people who help keep an eye out for other people’s belongings when they’re not home, we call ourselves the Sterling Brotherhood. With all these thefts going on, we want to end it.”
Alaska State Troopers’s Soldotna Post has seven fewer officers than it did two years ago. The Girdwood Post is set to close January 1 and while some officers will be transferred to Soldotna, Troopers have said it is still not enough to make up for the continued public safety cuts.
Authorities have thanked the communities for banding together in light of their reductions, however, Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters warned of the fine line between community watchdogs and vigilantism.
Peters: “There are situations where it is best to let the Troopers handle the situation but there’s also been times in the past where citizen involvement has been very crucial. The involvement of the citizens doesn’t necessarily have to go to the extent of grabbing somebody for us, even just calling in tips on incidents or just reporting suspicious behavior kind of like a community watch. A lot of times, people see something and think ‘oh, somebody else will take care of it.’ Then nobody reports it and then people get mad thinking law enforcement doesn’t do anything.”
The groups in Sterling and Nikiski have begun to have regular meetings to work to address the crimes which Troopers have labeled as the result of increased drug use.
