Skagway Assembly Borough Member Dan Henry has a simple message to the community about the staffing situation with the Skagway Police Department. Help isn’t coming any time soon.
Henry, in discussions about the Public Safety Committee meeting, said the municipality’s hopes of bringing in additional help evaporated quickly, and the outlook, at least in the short term, appears to be pretty bleak.
“I was hoping for, prior to the meeting, that we were going to announce that we were filling some of the voids that we desperately need to do at the police station,” he said. “Unfortunately, that is not going to be the case.”
Municipality officials felt like they had reached an agreement with an officer recently. Housing concerns, among other issues, derailed the relocation.
“We will continue to search for prospects, but in the interim, we will be playing a lot of overtime.”
The Municipality of Skagway has been searching for months for qualified applicants to add to the police department staff. Due to a tight housing market, landing additional officers has been an effort in futility. And, quite possibly, it could continue down that path for a time.
“I don’t know if there is anything on the horizon, but I don’t see it.”
Henry said the municipality would continue its search for applicants and, hopefully, additional officers can be found.
“Hopefully, we’ll have some better news after the next Public Safety meeting.”
In August of last year, Henry informed members of the Assembly the town had three officers to cover 21 shifts. With the city’s current force working 8 hours a day, five days a week, it leaves the city with a choice: Having the city without law enforcement for six shifts, or having to eat a large overtime bill.
Henry, in the past, has championed having the city build houses that can be used as officer housing or purchase existing properties.
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