photo by Kevin Klott, ADN

CURFEW MONITORS: With public safety posts cut, village gets creative.

Young volunteers are getting ready to patrol the streets of a cash-strapped Western Alaska village after the three-man police force was dismantled to save money.

The volunteers, most of them just of out high school, are part of a plan to keep the village of Chevak clean of curfew violators who residents believe are contributing to a rising tide of vandalism, drinking and violence.

"We want to step up and make a difference," said Bryson Kanrilak, the effort's 21-year-old leader. "Kids are staying out late and just being mischievous."

The group recently won permission from local officials to patrol the snow-packed streets and sprawling boardwalks with flashlights and VHF radios. Paired up, they'll escort lawbreaking minors home with a warning to parents and will be empowered by the city and tribal governments to slap repeat offenders with a $20 fine.

The nightly patrols, which began this weekend with seven volunteers from the Chevak Boys and Girls Club, are a unique solution to a growing problem in rural Alaska.
With the state revenue-sharing program eliminated and fuel prices soaring in village Alaska…the high cost of public safety makes local police a big target for municipalities with shriveling budgets, Black said. "The best source for public safety is locally," he said.

And when the city shut down its public safety department in August to help pay its bills, it saw an immediate surge in petty crimes. The community responded with a series of public meetings. Most concerns centered on wayward minors violating the curfews -- starting between 9 p.m. and midnight, depending on age and day of the week -- so the Boys and Girls Club offered its help, said Mary Jones, a tribal court administrator.

Either way, the youth group plans to do its part. Billy Ray Nash, a recent high school graduate, said he's seen more drug use, more breaking and entering and more kids getting hurt. He's going on patrol because he doesn't want kids wasting their youth.
"I want to prevent them from getting into trouble so they don't have to go do community service or jail," said Nash, 20.

The group has already made a difference, said Richard Tuluk, administrator for the Chevak Traditional Council, the tribal government. By raising awareness among parents, it has slowed late-night activity, he said. And last week, before the patrols officially began, he saw one Boys and Girls Club member escort a young child home after the weeknight curfew. As a parent, he said he was especially proud. "It's pretty awesome to see them doing that," Tuluk said.

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