Twelve deaths since May. Twelve.
I have lived in Anchorage my entire life and I cannot remember when we had twelve native Alaskan deaths in Anchorage during a four month period of time. Especially in the summer.
So what is different this year?
The string of homeless deaths has alarmed street people, their advocates and the general public. It's unusual for so many to die outdoors in Anchorage during good weather.
What's killing Anchorage's homeless?
For some, police say it's pretty clear what happened. The first, Stanley Ivey, died from hypothermia, they say. His body was found in the Chester Creek greenbelt May 7 during spring cleanup; while the days were warm, the temperatures dipped below freezing at night in that part of town.
James Lockery was stomped and beaten to death, police say. Douglas Friday was hit by a truck. Danny Wright drowned in Campbell Creek.
Wright had been drinking. A lot.
The common thread is a well-known suspect: alcohol. Four died, at least in part, because of the ravages of hard drinking; the number may grow when all the investigations are complete.
"I think the tragic truth is that in most of the cases, their lifestyle -- they are pretty much killing themselves through their lifestyle and their choices," said Sgt. Slawomir Markiewicz, head of the Anchorage Police Department homicide unit.
Alcoholism has been a problem with the homeless native population in Anchorage for decades. Why would it result in so many deaths this summer?
Some think that perhaps more are dying outdoors this year because of the warmer-than-usual May and June -- in the past maybe they would have been in a shelter or at a friend's house or have gotten a cheap motel room.
Global warming is the cause of so many native deaths? I don't believe it is just that they died outside. Whether inside or outside this is an awful lot of dead people.
Maybe it is more to do with the reduced number of detox centers in town?
Freemon says they are dying because of the "long-term health effects of chronic alcoholism ... the cumulative effect of years of living in unsafe conditions."
Anchorage, she said, is sorely lacking in help. People must wait months for a treatment bed. The number of detox spots in the area has dropped from 35 to 10.
One of the best, the Clitheroe Center had to close up just two years ago after 30 years of providing a place for the native community to get help for alcoholism. Could this be a contributing factor?
But then again maybe I am too far removed from the situation to fairly assess if this is unusual or a cause for worry. What does the native community think of this situation?
The Alaska Native Health Board passed a resolution earlier this month asking Mayor Dan Sullivan to create a task force addressing violence against Alaska Natives. The advocacy group was outraged by the recent case involving a couple accused of beating up a Native man, then posting it on YouTube; by sexual assaults of Native women; by the number of Natives among the homeless dead.
The group "really feels that the violent crimes and the deaths that have happened within Anchorage since May are a grave threat to the health and the welfare of Alaska Native people," said Angel Dotomain, the board president and CEO.
I have to admit I am just as puzzled as the next guy as to what is causing so many native deaths in Anchorage this year. But it appears that the Alaska Native Health Board is on the right track in asking for help from the mayor. I believe this crisis deserves special attention and it falls to Mayor Sullivan to provide it.
He dropped the ball when it came to protecting the rights of the gay community, let's see how he handles this one.
This is terrible news!
ReplyDeleteHow will Mayor Sullivan handle this on?
ReplyDeleteI suspect he will ignore it, not say a thing.
From a Canadian POV, the first place I would look for an answer is to the fact that Americans are paranoid about feeling a social responsibility toward their fellow citizens. They think it has something to do with socialism or communism. This is very evident in the fact that nearly 45 million people are going without proper affordable healthcare and the Obama initiatives are close to failing again.
ReplyDeleteAmericans will get about what they deserve unfortunately but in the case of native Alaskans they probably deserve better and are powerless to cause change to help themselves. It's very doubtful they would be afraid of expressing a social responsibility toward others themselves. Victims of the system.
THis is really really sad but not surprising unfortunately. It also is happening everywhere. America treats it's homeless and/or mentally ill like dirt! The straight goods has many good points about this. It wasn't always like this I don't think but remember when all of the state mental hospitals across the country were closed and suddenly there were millions of homeless everywhere? There have been a lot of different exposes about this. I just watched a Frontline one that showed how prisons are becoming mental hospitals for the seriously mentally I'll and they aren't obviously prepared for that.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the Republican solution? Pick yourself up by your bootstraps or let your family help you! Yeah right. I watched another recent show about the dangerously mentally ill whose families could not help for many reasons. I could go on and on about this it is a huge problem in our country and it is being ignored! Many homeless are also mentally ill with no treatment or like Gryphen said, people with substance abuse.
Imagine if Obama tried to work on this problem. Half of America doesn't give a crap that millions don't have insurance or are going bankrupt from too many medical bills. Look what's going on. I hate to admit it but we live in a selfish selfish society.
The ones who believe in helping others less fortunate are called socialists. It's terrible. And many of the Democrats in office are too tied to special interests. We need to recognize those who only care about politics and money and not vote for them.
I know this sounds very negative but it seems almost everyone in politics is corrupt and innocent people are dying because of greed, money, power and politics. People can't help it if they have an incureable mental illness. And those who develop a treatable one or substance abuse problem can't get help.
It's pathetic and sad.
I think there is a direct correlation with the criminal lack of detox resources to the number of deaths. Yes, it would be easy to subscribe to the "serial killer" theory, because that would absolve all of us from responsibility for our fellow human beings.
ReplyDeleteyukonark
Sullivan will ignore it. What's a few dead Natives to someone like him? Less than nothing.
ReplyDeleteAny mayor with a halfway sense of responsibility (much less a sense of decency) would have long ago recruited someone like Walt Monegan to lead a task force to begin solving these problems.
Gryphen, not all the 12 were native Alaskans and not all were Alaska Natives. They were all drinkers and died as a result, directly or indirectly.
ReplyDeleteWe have 3 issues which overlap--
* the homeless, including those who sleep rough
* Alaska Natives who live in a city which is predominantly non-Native. The city's residents are largely content to be characterized as intolerant of those born differently.
* alcohol and drug abuse which very few wish to examine what it is and how it functions ("just lock them up"; ban booze; i.e., variants of prohibition)
OK, a 4th--
* no help for those whose health needs are mental or psychological.
People are coping. We need to understand how they do that; what actual choices are presented; why are some people so successful and others not. Then we can identify what choices are not presented. We can figure out how to support the good choices.
As long as we want to just wish the issue away (or pray it away or lock it away or ban it away) the issue will continue. No one wished this-- wishing it to go away won't work.
By the way, did the Mayor retain his rural liaison?
Perhaps there are more homeless coming in from the rural villages now since the XGINO practically told the villagers they were lazy backwards folk unless they were willing to look for work and move to the city?
ReplyDelete