The Municipality of Anchorage wants to know what public safety means to you. The Task Force to Reimagine Our Public Safety Commission is requesting feedback from community members about their priorities, values, and lived experiences related to public safety. If you live in Anchorage, please fill out the survey here before August 5, 2025.
At the ACLU of Alaska, public safety is a uniting theme that weaves all of our work together. Whether we're talking about housing and homelessness, the criminal legal system, immigration, or queer and transgender rights, public safety, and the right of all Alaskans to be safe is a top priority in our litigation, advocacy, and public outreach work.
The ACLU of Alaska believes that public safety is about individual and collective well-being. Our community is safe when everyone can access the services necessary to ensure personal health and stability. When harm occurs, public safety means our community is equipped to address its root causes and collectively heal to break cycles of violence.
Our top concerns for public safety are:
- Social Services. Currently, there is a widespread inability to access assistance to social services that are essential to health and wellbeing. Public policies should be designed to assist people in securing basic needs, rather than punishing people for having them.
- Diversion Programs. Currently, poverty, substance misuse, and mental health issues are being criminalized, not supported by medical or behavioral health specialists. Our community is safer when we divert people away from the criminal justice system and into the social and medical supports they need.
We also know how we want public leaders to address public safety across the state. The ACLU of Alaska believes that all law and public policy responses should respect the rights given to each of us under the Alaska Constitution; we must invest in infrastructure and services that help our community thrive for generations to come; and above all, our public safety practices should advance equal justice and dignity for every single Alaskan.
You'll continue to see us engage on issue areas that directly relate to public safety, and we hope you'll join in defending the right of Alaskans to be safe.
