On July 15, the Anchorage Assembly narrowly passed an ordinance that criminalized public camping in certain areas of Anchorage. It passed 7-5, with a one vote margin. But the ordinance had an unlikely supporter: Mayor Suzanne LaFrance. 

LaFrance introduced the ordinance as a substitute for an ordinance introduced by Assembly members Keith McCormick, Jared Goecker, and Scott Myers in June.  Their ordinance aimed to make public camping in Anchorage a class B misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to six months in prison and a $2,000 fine. 

LaFrance’s substitute, which ultimately passed, narrowed the areas in Anchorage where public camping would be subject to criminal penalties. According to an Alaska Public Media article, LaFrance’s version made it a misdemeanor for “homeless residents to camp on streets, sidewalks, railroad tracks and bridges, and within 200 feet of major trail systems. It also criminalizes camping within 500 feet of schools, playgrounds, child care centers and homeless shelters. Plus, the construction of makeshift ‘hard-walled, hard-roofed, or hard-floored structures’ on public land is criminalized.”

But two months after the ordinance passed, in a city with a major public camping and vagrancy problem, only one person has been charged under the new law. The Landmine asked the Anchorage Police Department (APD) how many people have been charged under the new law. APD responded:

Based on a search for the charges in our data there has been one arrest so far and it was in August. It was an arrest for AMC8.45.15(A)(5)(B) Prohibited Camping 500’ from the edge of athletic field or other maintained (such as groomed or mowed) field on parkland.

Before the ordinance, APD patrol officers responded to calls for service at homeless camps when there was a criminal complaint. This ordinance offers yet another tool to address illegal camping. Now that camping in some areas is a misdemeanor crime, patrols will respond and can also bring in specialized units that can help connect people to services.

It’s also important to note that APD developed a data tracking system and has been training officers to enforce the new ordinance and track the data correctly. Additionally, APD officers have spent time educating the community about the ordinance.

When asked to comment on just one person being charged under the new law that she introduced, Mayor LaFrance echoed the comments from APD. A spokesperson from her office told the Landmine: 

Our primary enforcement goal with this ordinance is the prevention of entrenched encampments. Our goal has never been to maximize arrests, but to maximize compliance with officers and our code.

This ordinance is a tool that allows police to quickly intervene and efficiently get people to move from inappropriate and high-risk areas. While the numbers vary weekly, APD’s CAP Team has been engaging with around 20 people a week who are camped in a protected area as identified in the ordinance. After interactions with officers, arrests are typically not required – by and large, people are packing up their belongings and leaving the area, including moving indoors and going into shelter.

The Municipality is also still using our civil abatement process to address large encampments and illegal camps in areas where misdemeanor charges do not apply.

Anchorage Assembly member Daniel Volland, who represents Downtown Anchorage and voted for the ordinance, has a different take. He told the Landmine, “The fact that the Assembly is passing laws that the administration is not enforcing in a meaningful way is noteworthy.” 

Assembly member Keith McCormick, who introduced the original public camping ordinance, provided a statement to the Landmine that eerily mimicked the statements from APD and LaFrance:

The Prohibited Camping law was never intended to be measured solely by the number of arrests. The main goal has always been to give officers and outreach teams a clear tool to step in, move people out of unsafe encampments, and connect them to shelter or treatment. Arrest is the last resort.

Seeing one charge so far means that officers are exercising discretion, offering services, and moving people along when possible. That’s exactly how the law was designed. We are beginning to see consistency in enforcement under the administration, and over time this will result in cleaner trails, safer schools and parks, and more accountability.

The ordinance that passed was a compromise on my original. It’s not perfect, but it is a meaningful step in the right direction. This is a big cultural shift for Anchorage. I will be watching the progress closely to ensure this law is enforced as intended, and that we see real improvements in public safety.

The public camping law is not the only ordinance the LaFrance administration is not enforcing. In May, LaFrance introduced an ordinance to criminalize unauthorized fires in Anchorage. The Assembly passed it unanimously. The new law makes it a misdemeanor to start unauthorized fires or violate burn bans, with potential penalties of fines and jail time. 

During a Public Health & Safety Committee meeting on September 3, Assembly member Yarrow Silvers asked APD Chief Sean Case, “How many citations have you had for these outdoor fires, or how many have you issued?”

Case hesitated, and then said, “It’s a low number, I believe it may be even zero. It’s a very very low number.” Case went on to explain that one of the problems is when the fire department responds to a call the police department is often not there to issue citations.  

Silvers pushed back, saying, “It seems like people aren’t really taking the ordinance seriously. And it seems like part of that could be because of the lack of enforcement of it.”

She then asked Case if they could start enforcing the outdoor fire law like they enforce speeding laws. Case said it would be difficult, and added one of the fears is that it would be “disproportionally applied.” Whatever that means. 

Silvers again pushed back, saying many of these fires are not people warming their fingers or toes, but blowing up propane tanks and burning structures. She reiterated the importance of enforcement. Case said he would work on it.

The Anchorage Fire Department has responded to multiple fires in homeless encampments this summer, which have damaged both public and private property. In June, several large fires were intentionally set in Davis Park while the city attempted to abate the encampment. People living in the park had repeatedly and publicly threatened to commit arson in the park if the city proceeded with abatement.

Numerous APD officers were onsite during the Davis Park abatement. No arrests were made.