Senate Bill 91, an extensive effort to reform criminal justice in Alaska, was signed into law by Gov. Bill Walker Monday. That same day, two people were arrested for driving while intoxicated, but did not go to jail because of the new guidelines of SB 91, according to Anchorage Police Department Sgt. Gerard Asselin.
“Both those people were released on their own recognizance immediately,” said Asselin, president of the APD Employees Association. “If we’re genuinely concerned about the safety of our public, I think most people would say that’s probably not a good course of action.”
SB 91 changes many things about Alaska’s criminal justice system, including the addition of a pretrial unit within the Department of Corrections charged with determining which types of offenders deserve jail time and which ones can be released on an electronic monitoring program.
It also changes some felonies to misdemeanors. For example, second-degree theft now requires a person to steal at least $1,000 work of a product or service, instead of the previous amount of $750.
While the bill received bipartisan support in Juneau, some in the law enforcement community, including Asselin, staunchly opposed it. He said having to enforce the law now is frustrating.
“Law enforcement as a whole was disregarded in our opposition to the bill, and now we’re trying [to] make it work. It’s a little bit discouraging,” said Asselin.
However, Dean Williams, the commissioner of the Alaska DOC, said the crime bill is not as risky as it might seem, and similar bills have proven successful in other states.
“There’re some unknowns in this, and it makes people nervous, I get that. But this has been done in every other state and it’s proven great results and they have the data to prove it,” said Williams.
He added that putting people away for relatively minor offenses only makes them more likely to break the law again in the future.
“Crime rates actually go down because you don’t have people who are losing their jobs who become [a] higher risk of committing a crime,” Williams said.
Asselin was not as confident that crime rates would decrease.
“If you reduce criminal penalties, then it’s easier to say crime has been reduced,” he said.
While Asselin said some officers are frustrated and confused with the changes to the law, Williams is confident they will eventually be successful.
“It just takes time,” said Williams.
KTVA 11′s Eric Ruble can be reached via email or on Facebook and Twitter.
