Muni Department of Law sending Cease and Desist letters to disruptive men frequenting AHD
According to an email sent by Anchorage Health Director Joseph Gerace this week, the Municipal Department of Law intended to send cease and desist letters to disruptive individuals who have been frequenting the Anchorage Health Department.
Gerace's email was sent as part of a response to a large number of emails, texts, and Teams messages he has received over the past few days from AHD employees about disruptive individuals visiting AHD Headquarters.
In his email, Gerace told AHD staff that he was working with many external partners such as AHD Safety, MOA Safety, APD, the Department of Law, and the Administration to curtail the men's disruptive behavior.
One AHD employee said a man had recently filmed their female coworker from just inches away as she was exiting her vehicle in the parking lot and said that other men are known to randomly show up at the health department to harass and film employees.
"They've come into the building and pounded on doors. It scares me," the employee said, describing the current atmosphere at AHD over the disruptive behavior as "pretty anxious."
In his email, Gerace told AHD employees that he did not accept the men's "disruptive behaviors" and alluded to the existence of videos that may show interactions between himself and the individuals. It is unknown on what website or social media accounts the videos appear.
Responding to questions sent to him by health department employees, Gerace said he could not lock the entire building down in response to the men's behavior but said he could restrict them from entering restricted spaces.
He also wrote in his email that AHD was powerless to trespass the men from the medical clinic as the space must be accessible for "all citizens." Gerace also wrote that he was unable to prevent the men from following employees to their car but did offer them a suggestion about how to deal with the situation:
"NOTE: When you are clocked out and headed home, you are a citizen just like him with fundamental rights. Free speech is yours to use with these interesting visitors."
It's unknown why the Anchorage Health Department director feels verbally engaging with men said to be "disruptive" might be a good tactic for city employees to utilize. However, he did encourage AHD staff to avail themselves of the Municipality's 911 service should they feel threatened, scared, or nervous.
Gerace also wrote that AHD would continue to use all legal resources and options to deal with the untenable situation and noted that he had asked his personal attorney to reach out to the Municipal Department of Lpt to coordinate a response.
"Dept of Law is sending a "Cease & Desist Order" Letter to all of them today. If they block access for clients, they will be arrested, if they create a disturbance they will be arrested, if they become disruptive to operations they will be arrested. If they obstruct a Muni employee in the performance of their duties, they will be arrested."
Gerace closed his email by telling AHD employees that while he wished he had more tools to address the behaviors that have occurred, the building was a public facility that presented a "legal dilemma" for the Department of Law.
It's unclear who the men frequenting the health department are or why they are allegedly recording employees.
