A dance group sings in a presentation by the Alaska Native Heritage Center and Native Movement at the state Capitol on Feb. 5, 2024. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell told lawmakers on Tuesday that he doesn’t know how the state can justify the relative lack of resources it has provided to rural Alaska.
“Since statehood, the state has followed a false pass on how we provide law enforcement services around this state,” he said. “We certainly have disproportionate resources in rural Alaska. And it’s shameful.”
As bills to address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people in Alaska move through the legislative process, the state is reckoning with systemic issues that have hindered its response. Cockrell said that the Department of Public Safety has taken steps to reduce the inequities, but he would like lawmakers to give him the ability to move resources from urban areas to rural ones.
“We’ve closed our eyes and allowed rural Alaska to be seriously victimized,” he said.