DOJ to provide funding for Alaska law enforcement after Barr declares emergency
Attorney General William Barr on Friday declared an emergency for public safety in rural Alaska.
Barr announced that the Department of Justice will provide more than $10 million in funding to support law enforcement in Alaska Native villages. The department will immediately provide $6 million to the state to hire, equip, and train rural police; another $4.5 million, which will be provided to Alaska Native organizations by the end of July, will support 20 officer positions.
Barr said in a statement that he witnessed firsthand Alaska's "dire law enforcement challenges" during a May visit. The decision has received praise from the Alaska Federation of Natives, the state's largest Native organization.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"We appreciate that U.S. Attorney General William Barr clearly understands the urgency of the public safety situation in rural Alaska," Julia Kitka, the organization's longtime president said. Kitka thinks the funding presents a real chance to make a difference, AFN spokesman Jeffry Silverman said.
Alaska has the highest per capita crime rate in the country, per the Justice Department, but it suffers from a shortage in law enforcement officers, among other challenges, including the fact that some villages are only accessible by boat or plane, which can delay investigations. Last month, it was reported that one in three communities had no local law enforcement at some point this year. Read more at The Anchorage Daily News.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
'Without mandatory testing, bird flu will continue circulating at farms across the country'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Thirteen missing after Red Sea tourist boat sinks
Speed Read The vessel sank near the Egyptian coastal town of Marsa Alam
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Khan supporters converge on Islamabad
Speed Read Protesters clashing with Pakistani authorities are demanding the release of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments law
Speed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation court
Speed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published