Anchorage at a breaking point: Time to end the era of lawless encampments

Anchorage is at a crossroads. We have reached a point of normalizing the sprawling, unauthorized encampments that have taken over many of our public spaces. They cause serious harm to both the neighborhoods they spring up in and to the campers themselves, who often become trapped in cycles of addiction and dysfunction. There is no version of these camps that promotes well-being. They are fundamentally incompatible with healthy lives and with a healthy city.

For too long, neighborhoods and public spaces have been taken over by encampments where drug use is rampant, women are being trafficked in plain sight, people are being murdered and hurt, and our parks, meant for children and families, are rendered unsafe. Anchorage’s timid, accommodating response to encampments is not mercy. It is not tolerance. It is abandonment. And it has allowed this problem to grow into a crisis.

That’s why we introduced AO 2025-74, an ordinance that clearly prohibits camping on public property and makes such conduct a Class B misdemeanor. This ordinance empowers our city to take swift, lawful action to restore public order while upholding the due process rights of individuals. This ordinance also gives the city the ability to divert people into mandatory rehab and treatment, a tool desperately needed to help break the cycle of addiction that has destroyed so many lives…

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