Partners: Bethel Police Department, Tundra Women's Coalition, clergy and community members trained in crisis intervention
Focus areas: Community Engagement, Training, Crisis Intervention
Bethel is a city of approximately 45 square miles, with a population of just over 6,000. It is surrounded by 50 villages in the 58,000 square miles of the Yukon Delta Region of Southwestern Alaska, approximately 400 air miles northwest of Anchorage. Bethel is a rural city not connected to the road system; the only way in and out is by plane. Violent crime per capita in Bethel is 261.06% higher than the national average. According to Bethel Police Department dispatch, officers have responded to 499 calls related to violent crimes including assaults, domestic violence, sexual assaults, weapon offenses, and robbery or burglary in the last 90 days alone. There were also 20 reports of suicides or suicide threats and attempts during that period.
Bethel Police Department has attempted to address the problem of violent crimes, but is hampered by limited resources and the cost of sending officers out of the region or state for training. Rural Violent Crime Reduction Initiative (RVCRI) funding will support training for officers who can then train other officers and community members in Bethel and outlying villages in violence prevention and suicide prevention programs. Partnerships will be essential in the success of this effort. Bethel Police Department will work with clergy and other community leaders as a response team to assist on calls involving subjects in mental crisis. These leaders will receive training in CIT and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASSIST). The department will also partner with business owners in the community to help promote the 988 suicide hotline and other prevention services. Finally, Bethel Police will partner with the Tundra Women’s Coalition to present to students in local schools about domestic violence, sexual assault, and date rape, and officers will talk to students about drug and alcohol abuse. Bethel Police Department aims to reduce violent crimes within the city and assist the 50 villages surrounding the city to implement violence prevention and suicide prevention programming.
RVCRI is an effort funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to assist rural communities seeking to address violent crime.
The DOJ Bureau of Justice Assistance is supporting data-driven, comprehensive responses to crime in some of the country’s most troubled communities through BCJI.