Thursday, May 23, 2013

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Residents Wonder if Anchorage is Getting More Dangerous
Reeves, Koenig cases have some residents on edge
By Bill McAllister


ANCHORAGE - Samantha Koenig and Clinton Reeves were both missing for a significant period before their bodies were found.

The searches and the murders got a lot of news coverage and many Anchorage residents were involved in both searches.

The crimes happened close together, prompting the question: Is Anchorage getting more dangerous?

There's no doubt that some people are particularly unnerved by these murders.

But from the responses KTVA got Tuesday, it's difficult to say how widespread the damage might be to the sense of security in Anchorage.

High-profile murders have hurt Anchorage as a whole.

"I do think that a lot of people are feeling less safe and less secure, particularly women and people who love the women in their lives, are feeling concerned about it, and I think the Samantha Koenig case was really alarming in that respect,” said Susan Sullivan of Victims for Justice.

Israel Keyes has been charged in Koenig’s death and police say it was a random crime, one reason that some people are on edge.

"I can just tell you anecdotally, I have two ladies that work in my office, and one of them said, ‘yeah, I'm very careful where I go now,'” said Senator Hollis French, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “'I've started to carry mace in my purse, which I didn't do before.’ And so I think people are on alert."

Some people don't see enough change. Therapist Deborah Stamm is one.

"I think at first there was a sense of urgency and then, as always seems to happen, it kind of dies down rapidly. My concern is that there is no real sense of urgency that is strong enough to make a change in the way people conduct themselves in everyday life. I still see the girls at the little coffee shops all by themselves in there."

But police view both the Koenig and Reeves murders as aberrations, not part of any pattern.

"These were tragedies for us, there's no doubt about it, and they were the focus of both the department and the community, and we absolutely understand that,” said Deputy Chief Steve Hebbe. “But as far as any wider thing other than just the very sorrowful feelings that the whole community and the department share, I don't think they should have any extra concerns."

So it might be the perception of change, not change itself.

Sullivan says that the recent high-profile murder cases aside, Anchorage was and is dangerous for women, as rape statistics continue to show.

She and French applaud Governor Sean Parnell for his “Choose Respect” campaign, although they say it's too soon to know if it's working.