08/28/19 Support Emergency Service Patrol

08/28/19 Press Release – Support Emergency Service Patrol

DATE: August 28, 2019

MEDIA CONTACT: Teal Soden, Communications Director, tsoden@fairbanks.us

The City of Fairbanks sent out letters this week to hundreds of Fairbanks businesses in order to request support for the Emergency Service Patrol.

The City of Fairbanks has had a serious problem with publicly inebriated individuals for several years. Per Alaska Statute Title 47, the City of Fairbanks will take incapacitated or intoxicated persons into protective custody for transport to safe places. The Emergency Service Patrol (ESP), formerly known as Community Service Patrol (CSP), currently provides that service that historically was the sole responsibility of the City’s police officers and paramedics. Given the high call volume created by inebriated individuals, the presence of ESP has taken a substantial workload off the police officers and paramedics which allows them to focus on other critical areas of public safety.

ESP also provides businesses and residents of Fairbanks a quick response to calls that otherwise might be delayed if the program were not in existence. ESP benefits more than just the people taken into protective custody. It benefits local businesses, tourism, and the overall quality of life for residents of Fairbanks.

Unfortunately, the City of Fairbanks has seen declining financial assistance from the State of Alaska and we expect that decline to continue. With the decline in funding, we have reached out for help in order to continue this invaluable program, as it would be detrimental to our public safety departments, local businesses, residents, and visitors if the program were to end.

While the City of Fairbanks currently manages the ESP contract, the Downtown Association of Fairbanks assists with strategic planning and fundraising for the ESP program. We have asked businesses that are interested in financially supporting this program to contribute to the Emergency Services Patrol through the Downtown Association of Fairbanks Community Services, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.

The City hopes that local businesses can see the great benefit of this program, and we are committed to finding more solutions to keep ESP working for our community!

**Donations can be made online at: http://www.downtownfairbanks.com/?page_id=18267