HOOPER BAY, Alaska -- When this town's seven police officers go on patrol, they never reach for their guns. That's because Hooper Bay is the only known municipality in the United States whose police officers are forbidden to carry firearms.
Town leaders say they fear guns will just make the village more dangerous, even in the hands of cops. Police say town leaders are being unreasonable and insist guns can make the town safer.
"Unpredictable, unexpected things don't happen here often, but they do happen," said police chief James Hoelscher, 27, who has lived in Hooper Bay since he was 13. "A little Yupik Eskimo village is not immune to what can happen in Anchorage or Los Angeles or anywhere else."
Village leaders are unconvinced.
Elmer Simon, tribal government administrator, said he would support properly trained officers using guns -- but only in emergency situations. Otherwise, he said, they should keep them locked up.
"A lot of young people wouldn't hesitate -- especially if they're under the influence of alcohol -- to grab a handgun from the officers and use it against them," Simon said. "Not that we're against handguns. But accidents do happen."
Hooper Bay is an Eskimo village of 1,100 on the windblown Bering Sea coast, about 515 miles west of Anchorage. It is among the last communities in Alaska without running water or a sewage system.
One-third unemployed
The village has existed for more than a century, incorporating as a city in 1966. It has steadily grown in recent years despite high unemployment and few job opportunities. Commercial fishing and subsistence fishing and hunting are the primary means of support. Well over a third of the population is unemployed and receiving public assistance.
And no one can remember a time when police carried guns.
Both the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police said they were unaware of any other organized municipality in the nation whose officers don't carry guns.
"We're not a big enough village to justify carrying guns," said city administrator Raphael Murran.
The chief said there's good reason for his officers to carry firearms. In fact, he keeps his own gun locked up at the station and, policy or not, he has taken it on a few potentially risky calls. It's not always possible to wait for armed help from state troopers in Bethel, 150 miles away, he said.
"I'd rather be fired than killed," said the married father of four. "I have a family to go home to."
Police regularly deal with such potential flashpoints as domestic violence and liquor-fueled assaults in Hooper Bay, which bans the sale or importation of alcohol. In June, police logged 104 alcohol-related calls and seven domestic violence reports. They made 33 criminal arrests on charges including assault, harassment, eluding police and furnishing alcohol to a minor.
Then there was the choking incident.
In December 2001, police answering an assault call ran into a drunk and combative man who lunged at an officer, choking him until the officer blacked out, according to court documents. The officer recovered, and the man served time in jail after pleading no-contest to assaulting an officer.
Hoelscher thinks the assault might not have occurred if the officer had been wearing a sidearm, even if it was never drawn.
"It's hard to guess what would have happened if the officer was armed," Hoelscher said. "But if people know you're armed, they might think a little harder."
Or react more aggressively, opponents say.
"Knowing an officer is armed may amplify the situation," said Simon, the tribal administrator. "All areas have to be considered. It's a serious issue."
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