NCJ Number
168146
Date Published
1996
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This chapter describes the organization and functioning of the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) program and its place in the long history of policing in Alaska; the author then evaluates how this example of innovation fits into existing explanations of change.
Abstract
The VPSO program was established in 1980, and as of 1991 consists of approximately 125 positions. VPSO's serve in rural, isolated villages by themselves, providing general public safety services. The VPSO is expected to respond to all disruptions of social life, whether criminal incidents, dogs running loose, villagers overdue on trips, or boating accidents. The VPSO is also expected to provide support to other State agencies. In essence, VPSO's are the all-purpose, frontline representations of the State in rural areas, on call and responsible to local councils, the Alaska State Troopers, and regional Native nonprofit corporations. This chapter examines how well the VPSO program fits into the two dominant theoretical models (contact/social dislocation and underdevelopment/dependency) for explaining the state of affairs in Native Alaska. The author argues that the development of policy and the imposition of Western law and its enforcement in villages was the result of ad- hoc and pragmatic initiatives taken, in the absence or even in violation of formal regulations, by middle-level bureaucrats rather than a planned result that stemmed from some larger, long- range design and purpose (Angell, 1978). This piece-meal and adaptive policymaking process has characterized the development of policing in Alaska since 1867. The concluding section of this chapter develops a modified theory that can explain form and function -- an interested action model. The experience of the VPSO program provides the empirical basis for this theory. 9 notes