{"id":7450,"date":"2019-06-11T17:45:10","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T17:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lelandhale.com\/wordpress\/?p=7450"},"modified":"2019-06-11T19:03:32","modified_gmt":"2019-06-11T19:03:32","slug":"crime-alaska-then-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lelandhale.com\/wordpress\/crime-alaska-then-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Crime in Alaska: Then & Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A documentarian recently asked me: “Is Alaska a safe place to live?\u201d At the macro level, there\u2019s always been a certain danger to living in Alaska. And not just because of crime. The weather, for one, can kill those who are unprepared. The waters of Alaska also pose a serious risk, with deadly storms seeming to rage at will. And then there’s the wildlife. Bears, for example, are always a wild-card<\/a>. Anchorage often hosts moose on its downtown streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond that, I had to think about it. Actually, I had to look it up. Look it up because “impressions” are not “statistics.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember the ’70’s — and the pipeline boom — as a time when, by all appearances, Alaska had high homicide rates. To a measureable degree, that was true: Alaska’s murder rate per 100,000 was several points higher than the U.S. average at multiple points during the 1970’s — and never lower. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"crime\"\/
Source: Crime in the United States,<\/em> FBI, Uniform Crime Reports.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But then there’s this from “Crime in Alaska – 1978,” by the Alaska Criminal Justice Planning Agency (1979):
<\/p>\n\n\n

There is a widely held theory that crime ran rampant in Alaska while the Trans-Alaska pipeline was being built. Our previous analyses have shown that crime did not increase in proportion to the population increase… Since 1973, the population of Alaska has increased by twenty-seven percent and the number of crimes reported by forty-seven percent. The crime rate, however, has only increased sixteen percent. This means that the large increase in the state’s population was not accompanied by a comparable increase in the crime rate.<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps the Alaska report was parsing things a little too positively. Homicide rates in the 1970’s were perceptively higher than the U.S. average. And statistically higher, too. A quick look at 1974 and 1978 shows Alaskan’s were feeling little relief in their headline news.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Since the 1970’s?<\/p>\n

Violent crime rates are all over the place. Some are moving in the wrong direction<\/a>. In the early 80’s mass murder was on the minds of many. By late 1984, it seemed to be a growth industry. The Investor<\/em> murders were only one of several disturbing multiple homicides in Alaska.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"crime\"<\/a>
Mass Murder in Alaska<\/strong> (click to enlarge)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

From 1986 onward, that trend magnified, exposing aggravated assault and rape as the deeply disturbing behaviors Alaska can’t seem to shake. And, after an almost two-decade decline, homicide rates rose in 2009, followed by a sharp increase in 2014. That jump took Alaska’s homicide rate to 8.0, (compared to the U.S. average of 5.81). Still below historic highs, but unsettling nonetheless.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"crime\"<\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Which takes us back to the original question. Yes, Alaska is a dangerous place. A place where troubled souls come to reboot their lives, sometimes unsuccessfully.<\/p>\n

It is also a generous place, where folks know and trust the value of neighborliness. A place where, most of the time, strangers are willing to reach out a helping hand, because they know next time it could be them. A place I love, warts and all.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"Craig\"<\/p>\n

Order “What Happened In Craig<\/strong>,” HERE<\/strong><\/a> and HERE<\/strong><\/a>. True crime from Epicenter Press about Alaska’s Worst Unsolved Mass Murder<\/em>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A documentarian recently asked me: “Is Alaska a safe place to live?\u201d At the macro level, there\u2019s always been a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8,14,16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alaskas-worst-unsolved-mass-murder","category-craig-alaska","category-mass-murder","category-the-investor","category-true-crime"],"yoast_head":"\nCrime in Alaska: Then & Now - Leland E. Hale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Crime in Alaska must always be factored into the cost of living. That's not the only danger. 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