DEPARTMENT SAYS BREAKING UP AA MEETING WAS CORRECT
Homer Police Chief Mark Robl last week encouraged people to report on those not complying with the State health mandates. Must Read Alaska reported on the statement pictured below, and also that Homer Police raided a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, where participants said they were practicing social distancing.
Now, the police department is walking back that statement, as seen in the department’s statement on social media:
“Hello, this is Ryan, Lieutenant for HPD. I was enjoying a day off and spending some super quality time here on Facebook when I came across an article that got a little traction, suggesting we (Homer Police) are encouraging you all to “tell on” each other and that we are asking for your help in reporting violators of the governor’s health mandates….come on, really? We have enough to do already.
“Chief Robl recently put out a public service announcement saying our focus for enforcing the Governor’s mandates is educating the public and he shared the State’s email address for anyone who wanted to report non-compliance. Nowhere did he encourage anyone to tattle on their neighbors. We have actually received many calls from citizens concerned about others not practicing social distancing or self-quarantining after travel. If you’ve been paying attention, most of the cases of COVID-19 in our state are travel related.
“We here at HPD are doing our best to keep the spread down and the curve flat. To emphasize what Chief Robl said, we are focusing on education, not enforcement. That being said, we chose to stop an AA meeting last week. This was not an easy decision to make. We also made suggestions on how they could keep the group going while still following social distancing guidelines and health mandates, while staying close to the sobriety they work so hard for.
“Our goal is to work with you, our community. Together, we can find solutions as we navigate these crazy times. We’re all in this together,” Lt. Browning wrote.
