Report provides recommendations on how to cost effectively improve Alaska’s criminal justice system

JUNEAU-The Senate Judiciary Committee has released its 2012 Crime Summit Report and Recommendations.

This year’s focus was on early childhood education as a way to reduce long term crime rates. During the summit Annie Pennucci, a researcher from the Washington State Institute of Public Policy, discussed the long term benefits shown in multiple studies of children who attend pre-kindergarten programs. Those benefits include increased standardized test scores, increased high school graduation rates, and a reliable decrease crime rates later in the youth’s life. Ms. Pennucci’s research indicated that there is a $3 return for every $1 of investment in pre-kindergarten. Her research is consistent with work done by Alaska’s Institute of Social and Economic Research, which also found strong economic returns from investments in pre-K.

“As Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew said to at the Summit, ‘I don’t think we are going to arrest our way out of some of these problems.’ We need to put money into proven programs like pre-K if we want to make big differences in Alaska,” said Senator Hollis French, Chair of the Judiciary Committee.

In addition to recommending pre-K and early education programs, the report concurred with the suggestions of the law enforcement community that emphasized the need to address alcohol abuse, substance abuse and the ongoing levels of domestic violence and sexual assault. Recommendations included more programs like Anchorage’s 24/7 sobriety monitoring project, dealing with the over-service of alcohol at bars, safe housing and treatment for alcoholics, offender accountability, more prosecutors, more sexual assault response teams and more child advocacy centers.

Last, presentations during the summit detailed the need for faster, more integrated communication and technology systems. Law enforcement agencies requested radio and laptop upgrades, as well as inter-agency electronic information sharing and computer forensic capabilities.

“Thanks to this summit, we are now armed with the information we need to put these recommendations in place,” said Senator French. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to support these much needed changes.”

To read the full report, click here.

For more information, please contact Cindy Smith in Senator French’s office at 907-465-6595.