Safety ambassadors, security guards hired by the Downtown Partnership, were being leaned on to deal with situations better handled by police or social service providers.
Pedestrians cross A Street from an alley between Fourth and Fifth Avenues in downtown Anchorage on January 7, 2022.
The program allowed businesses, property owners, residents and others to report issues such as disorderly or suspicious behavior, graffiti, panhandling, public drinking and drug use, and needs like trash removal and sidewalk cleanup. The Downtown Partnership would then send its ambassadors to help. “Empty spaces invite and welcome nefarious activity, and so we began to see some really serious hotspots,” Moser said, “...Particularly Peratrovich Park and Fifth and Gambell,” she said.
The data is a “fundamental piece of how APD deploys its resources,” said Assembly member Christopher Constant, who represents downtown.