It's good for the children because everyone knows everyone and if someone sees a kid that might be getting hurt, they help. Because I live and grow up here. This is a strange question. The responses to these questions reveal that the social problems associated with alcohol and illegal drugs are viewed as serious by residents from all the villages surveyed. Over 75 per cent of those interviewed identified alcohol, illegal drugs, or both, as the most serious community problem.
People get drunk or high with firearms and no one is willing or capable of intervening. . . .
However, although residents in all regions cited alcohol as a serious community problem, they gave differing responses when questioned about other possible problems. Communities in relatively close proximity often exhibited very different concerns. Table 2 presents data on the specific problems residents were asked to evaluate. When questioned about responsibility for public safety and community problems, interviewees expressed, in several ways, that such problems are best handled with as much local involvement as possible. The repeatedly expressed sense that community problems are best comprehended and addressed from local perspectives coexists with recognition and respect for the role of the Alaska State Troopers, particularly in dealing with serious crime.