> > VILLAGE PUBLIC SAFETY
Village Public Safety
The Village Public Safety Officer Program began in the late
1970's as a means of providing rural Alaskan communities with
needed public safety services at the local level. The program
was created to reduce the loss of life due to fires, drowning,
lost person, and the lack of immediate emergency medical assistance
in rural communities. The Village Public Safety Officer Program
was designed to train and employ individuals residing in the
village as first responders to public safety emergencies such
as search and rescue, fire protection, emergency medical assistance,
crime prevention and basic law enforcement. The presence of
these officers has had a significant impact on improving the
quality of life in the participating villages. As a result,
the Village Public Safety Officers (VPSO) are generally the
first to respond to many calls for help from community members;
hence their motto:
"FIRST RESPONDERS-LAST FRONTIER"
Alaska State Troopers and Village Public Safety Officers are
both essential but different resources to the Department of
Public Safety and the State of Alaska. These two public safety
assets are not interchangeable in their roles within the Criminal
Justice System or within their general public safety responsibilities.
The two are not comparable in their services nor in the commensurate
costs that are involved in establishing their availability in
the field.
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Law enforcement in most rural areas is the primary responsibility
of the Alaska State Troopers. From rural outposts the Troopers
attempt to respond immediately to emergencies, felony, and misdemeanor
cases. Their efforts, however, are often hampered by delayed
notification, long response distance, the uncertainties of weather
and transportation. In communities associated with the Village
Public Safety Officer Program, citizens are afforded immediate
response to all emergencies without delays caused by weather,
distance, or budgetary restraints. Although VPSOs are not expected
to handle high risk or complex investigative situations, they
are the "First Responders" to all volatile situations
in their communities. Working as a team with the Alaska State
Troopers, they can stabilize most volatile situations and protect
crime scenes until the Troopers can arrive. VPSOs frequently
conduct and complete misdemeanor and minor felony investigations
with assistance provided by the State Troopers.
Funding
for the Village Public Safety Officer Program is provided by
the legislature and managed by the Alaska State Troopers. The
funds are awarded to participating regional Native nonprofit
corporations through grant requests. The primary purpose of
regional contracting is to place the local administration of
the Program into the hands of an organization more aware of
the specific needs of the areas to be served and to deal with
a workable number of contracts while retaining a certain amount
of regional flexibility. Each contractor, with the concurrence
of the Division of State Troopers, selects which communities
will participate.
Once the community has been selected, the local community,
with the assistance of the State Troopers, is responsible for
the selection and the daily activities of the Village Public
Safety Public Officer. The contractor arranges for all salary
payments based on the submission of time sheets from the communities.
Group insurance plans, retirement plans, and maintenance of
full financial accountability of contracted funds are also the
responsibility of the contractor.
