Crime increased in Alaska in 2017; most in central Kenai low-level or property offenses

The upswing in crime across Alaska continued in 2017, with the increase mostly in low-level and property crimes on the Kenai.

The Alaska Department of Public Safety’s 2017 edition of the Uniform Crime Report — which collects and tracks data year over year on a certain set of crimes from law enforcement agencies statewide — reports that overall crime of the types tracked increased 6 percent in the state from 2016–2017. Violent crime offenses — which include assault, robbery, rape, murder, non-negligent manslaughter, and aggravated assault — increased 6 percent and property crime offenses — including burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson — increased 5 percent, according to the report.

Over the last five years, those violent crime offenses have increased 35 percent and property crime offenses have increased 23 percent, according to the report. However, there are more than four times as many property crimes of those types than violent crimes, with 6,320 violent crimes to 26,225 property crimes, according to the report.

On the central Kenai Peninsula, the increase is largely in crimes like theft and trespassing rather than violent crimes. For the Soldotna Police Department, that has taken the form of burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts, which are up 166 percent, 19.3 percent and 200 percent respectively since 2012, said Soldotna Police Chief Peter Mlynarik in an email.

The crime increase has looked much the same for the Kenai Police Department, with an uptick in arrests for charges like vehicle theft, vandalism and larceny. At a recent town hall meeting on crime, Kenai Police Chief Dave Ross said the department’s total arrests increased about 20 percent in the last year over the previous year.

“What’s rising rapidly in the last few years has been low-level crime down here (on the Kenai),” Ross said. “ It’s theft, it’s burglary, it’s vehicle theft, shoplifting, small-scale theft is very high, trespassing and reports of trespassing.”

Not all the crimes they arrest people for are being counted in the report’s overall statistics calculated into the 5-6 percent increase figure. The Uniform Crime Report only tracks the specific crimes included in the statistics, and Kenai has seen an uptick in other crimes not included, like arrests for driving under the influence or disorderly conduct, Ross said.

The statistics track with what police departments and prosecutors have been seeing, said Alaska Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth in a statement.

“The 2017 UCR looks back at information a year ago or more and doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know,” Lindemuth said. “But it does confirm the concerns we voiced last year. The trends we were seeing last year is why we have the Public Safety Action Plan and why we have already taken many concrete steps to implement that plan. Our crime problem will not be solved overnight but we are making progress.”

In response to the increase in crime, the Department of Law worked to increase public safety funding in the fiscal year 2018 to hire more prosecutors an criminal investigators and for substance abuse treatment. A major factor in the crime increase has been tracked to the opioid crisis gripping the nation. Gov. Bill Walker introduced a Public Safety Action Plan in October 2017 with updates in May 2018, focusing on a variety of efforts to control the movement of drugs in the state and to offer more substance abuse treatment.

While the crime rate has been increasing, the incarcerated population in the state has been falling. Between 2015 and 2017, the number of people in the Alaska correctional system fell from 5,034 to 4,237, according to the Alaska Department of Corrections’ 2017 Offender Profile report. At Kenai’s Wildwood Correctional Complex, though, that number has stayed relatively stable for that time, falling from 317 in 2015 to 275 in 2016 but rising to 322 in 2017, according to the Alaska Department of Corrections.

One reason for the statewide decline is the implementation of Senate Bill 91, an omnibus crime reform bill the Legislature passed in 2016. The bill reduced penalties for some categories of crimes, specifically aimed at reducing the prison population. The reforms made in the bill have since come under fire for going too far and allowing too many people to go free after committing lower level crimes like vehicle theft. The Legislature is still debating further changes to the criminal justice laws.

The Kenai Police Department’s officers have been doing what they can strategically to help control crime, Ross said. There’s also been an increased interest in neighborhood watches, with a number of the areas in Kenai organizing and working with the police or installing game cameras to track crime in the area.

“There’s probably more neighborhoods organized here than there ever have been,” Ross said.

Reach Elizabeth Earl at eearl@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican who co-chairs the House Education Committee, speaks in favor overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
By 1 vote, lawmakers sustain Dunleavy veto of education bill

The bipartisan bill included $680 increase to per-student funding

The Sterling Highway crosses the Kenai River near the Russian River Campground on March 15, 2020, near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Russian River Campground closed for construction

The campground is expected to reopen on June 2

A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
Fish and Game announces series of closures and restrictions for king salmon fisheries

Cook Inlet king salmon stocks are experiencing a prolonged period of poor productivity, the department said

Montessori materials sit on shelves in a classroom at Soldotna Montessori Charter School on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Education debate draws state attention to peninsula charter schools

Dunleavy would like to see a shift of authority over charter school approvals from local school districts to the state

The Nikiski Senior Center stands under sunlight in Nikiski, Alaska, on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Support available for community caregivers

Nikiski Senior Center hosts relaunched Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program

Flags flank the entrance to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Dunleavy vetoes bipartisan education bill

Senate Bill 140 passed the House by a vote of 38-2 and the Senate by a vote of 18-1 last month

The Alaska State Capitol on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
House passes bill altering wording of sex crimes against children

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer

Ben Meyer and Brandon Drzazgowski present to the Soldotna and Kenai Chambers of Commerce at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum gives update on streambank restoration

The watershed forum and other organizations are working to repair habitat and mitigate erosion

The entrance to the Kenai Police Department, as seen in Kenai, Alaska, on April 1, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai resident arrested on charges of arson

Kenai Police and Kenai Fire Department responded to a structure fire near Mountain View Elementary

Most Read