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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 25 september 2019

ACLU: Alaska police agency failed to protect Native women

plained of sexual assaults temic, decades-long in- Stephen Koteff, the ACLU's
to the Nome police, only difference to the safety of legal director in Alaska,
to have their concerns dis- Alaska Native women in told the AP he couldn't
missed or allowed to lan- Nome has led to the de- comment on whether oth-
guish without investigation," privation of their rights to er women have contact-
the ACLU's letter charges. equal protection under the ed the organization with
"It has become evident in Constitutions of the United potential claims involving
recent months that a sys- States and Alaska." Nome police.q

In this Jan. 14, 2019 photo, Clarice "Bun" Hardy, who is of Inupiaq
heritage, stands on the beach with her dog, Marley, in the Native
Village of Shaktoolik, Alaska.
Associated Press
By The Associated Press 2008 through 2017, 8% of
NOME, Alaska (AP) — The calls about sexual assaults
American Civil Liberties against adults resulted in
Union on Tuesday accused arrests with charges filed.
police in this small Alaska In a written statement,
city of "a systemic and di- Nome's interim city man-
sastrous failure" to keep ager, John Handeland, de-
Native women safe from clined to respond to ques-
sexual assault. tions about the ACLU's let-
ACLU's Alaska branch ter. "The city's efforts to im-
made that charge in a prove community policing,
letter demanding the city and sexual assault investi-
pay $500,000 to a former gations in particular, have
911 dispatcher who says been well publicized," he
her colleagues at the po- wrote.
lice department failed to After a group of Alaska Na-
investigate her report that tive women began publicly
a man raped her in her raising complaints about
home. The letter said Cla- Nome's police last year, the
rice Hardy, who is of Inu- city of fewer than 4,000 resi-
piaq heritage, was unable dents hired a new police
to continue working there, chief, launched an audit
and suffered nightmares, of hundreds of old sexual
flashbacks and panic at- assault cases and created
tacks. a civilian police oversight
The ACLU's action comes committee.
12 days after an AP inves- While the ACLU said it was
tigation into complaints by writing the letter on behalf
Alaska Native women from of Hardy, it said it is "pre-
Nome and surrounding vil- pared to seek justice" for
lages that their reports of other women who had
sexual assault were not similar experiences with the
investigated aggressively police department.
by the city's police. Nome "Dozens of other Alaska
police data show that from Native women have com-