Alcohol task force asks for more community involvement

KYLE VON BOSE

April 18, 2008 at 10:10AM AKST

For villages that elect to ban the sale, possession or importation of alcohol, it’s not enough to simply cast a vote and expect to see alcohol disappear.

According to Western Alaska Alcohol and Narcotics Team and Bristol Bay Village Public Safety Officers, keeping a village dry is a community-wide effort that never stops.

Dillingham WAANT is a joint effort between the Alaska State Troopers and the Dillingham Police Department. They are responsible for the enforcement of alcohol and drug laws in the Bristol Bay area and the Aleutian chain.

The Dillingham team consists of officers Nasuruk Nay and John Kirby, who is commissioned as a state trooper investigator for alcohol investigation.

They work with local law enforcement throughout Bristol Bay to intercept alcohol shipments to dry villages and illegal drugs anywhere in the region.

Bootleggers and drug dealers are making huge profits from the extremely inflated prices of alcohol and drugs in these rural communities. Money meant to be spent on children’s food, clothing, diapers and household utilities is funneled into the hands of bootleggers and drug dealers.

The results are huge economic drains for communities, compounded by the fact that groceries and energy prices cost twice as much as they do in Anchorage. Nay said this is perpetuating the climate of poverty, low self-esteem and family instability.

The Dillingham WAANT team is locked in a constant struggle against a minority of people preying on Bristol Bay. To make significant headway against the predators, community-wide cooperation is a must.

Nay said the vast majority of people are against bootlegging and see the devastation it creates, but often people who might know about activity are hesitant to call the police because they don’t want to get involved.

"It’s hard for somebody to come forward if they are worried about being revealed," Nay said. "They have to live there in that small community, and the minority of people who are actually doing this illegal activity often have a magnified ability to ostracize those who would come forward."

However, someone who witnesses a neighbor, acquaintance or even a family member bring alcohol into a dry village and doesn’t report it, is welcoming all kinds of trouble onto their community.

Nay said alcohol use in a dry village could lead to assaults, sexual assaults and vehicle thefts.

"The thing that is a big motivator for me is the potential for child abuse and child neglect," Nay said. In small tight-knit communities, problems from alcohol affect families and often end up hurting children both physically and mentally.

Nay said that callers can remain anonymous, and the information can still be used if detailed enough and is corroborated by other reports. Callers can be rewarded case by case with amounts ranging from about $50 to $600.

In Manokotak, a dry village an hour-long boat ride away from Dillingham, VPSO Melvin Andrew said that community involvement against bootlegging is making a noticeable impact.

"For years it was hard, there was little community involvement or participation," Andrew said. "But through the years people are starting to realize that their involvement is important, just as much as my involvement."

But people’s minds didn’t change on their own. Andrew said he had to get out and talk to people. He said his public relations work within the community was much more effective than simply trying to catch bootleggers as they came in.

"The bootleggers are not very welcome nowadays," Andrew said.

Even with bootlegging on the decline, Andrew said that most of the calls he receives are alcohol related. Alcohol abuse is still an issue.

"Community support is so important," Andrew said. "I wish more people could realize that the community itself could do more by helping each other, not just depending on a VPSO or community leaders."

Andrew said community involvement can be as simple as talking to bootleggers or people who like to consume alcohol and give them a positive outlook on life.

Kyle von Bose can be reached at (907) 348-2438 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 438.