Anchorage Assembly member Meg Zalatel offered has offered an ordinance to limit the ability of police to use force.
Under the Zalatel no-deadly-force plan, law enforcement officers would be prohibited from using the following tactics in response to noncompliance or resistance:
- Warning shots.
- Shooting at or from moving vehicles.
- Shooting when innocent bystanders are near the line of fire so as to create a substantial risk of harm.
- Drawing and pointing weapons, unless deadly force is authorized by police department policy.
- Use of firearms to destroy animals.
- Unless deadly force is authorized, necessary, and objectively reasonable under the circumstances, and only used as long as needed to protect others and separate the arrestee from others:
- Any chokeholds, with or without a device, that restricts a person’s airway or flow of air.
- Any vascular neck restraint that restricts the flow of blood by compressing the carotid arteries on each side of the neck.
- Striking a person’s head or neck with an impact weapon or object.
7. Sitting, kneeling, or standing on the chest or back of a person in a manner that compresses the diaphragm for longer than reasonably necessary to restrain the person.
“Under no circumstances shall deadly force be authorized against a person in handcuffs or restrained to similar extent by any device. Non-deadly force may be used to prevent imminent bodily harm to officers or others, prevent escape, or physically remove an arrestee/detainee,” Zalatel’s ordinance reads.
The ordinance was introduced, but the Assembly has since been preoccupied by Mayor Ethan Berkowitz’ plan to house and treat vagrants in hotels and other buildings around Anchorage.
Now, a letter from the Anchorage Police Department Employee Association has expressed concern about the Zalatel plan.
The group says that shooting from a moving vehicle is already prohibited, but the APD policy provides for extenuating circumstances.
“For example, the policy would allow officers to fire at a person driving a vehicle who at the same time was shooting at citizens or officers. APD’s policy allows for officers to bring their training, experience, and critical analysis to bear in such a situation, with the understanding that an extreme amount of scrutiny will be used in determining if the officer placed themselves in a position where the vehicle could be used against them.”
The APD policy also has language prohibiting shooting when it could create a substantial risk of harm to a bystander.
“While our current policy has language similar to this, the policy again allows for extenuating circumstances where the ordinance does not,” APDEA wrote.
Under the current policy, the officer is allowed the discretion to decide, based on the totality of the circumstances, whether discharging his/her firearm would constitute a greater risk to innocent human life than the subjects’ actions would.
“There are any number of ways such a situation could arise. For example, when officers are dealing with an active shooter, or with a suspect who is taking action that threatens the lives of hostages, officers may have to make the difficult decision to use deadly force against the suspect even with bystanders or hostages near the line of fire to save the lives of many.”
The police group also pointed out that if Zalatel’s ordinance is understood literally, it prohibits shooting when innocent bystanders are near the line of fire, even if the officer has no knowledge that a bystander is present.
The drawing and pointing of weapons section of Zalatel’s ordinance is also problematic. The ordinance would change the police department policy, which now says that officers may not point their firearms at or in the direction of a person absent an objectively reasonable determination that the situation may escalate to the point where deadly force would be authorized. The ordinance prohibits drawing and pointing weapons unless there is justification for use of deadly force.
“APD officers are trained to deploy with their weapons in any number of situations where deadly force would not be justified. For example, drawing and pointing weapons is allowed on felony traffic stops, building searches, K9 tracks, etc. When guns are drawn in these circumstances, the result is the potentially hazardous situations never reach the point of becoming appropriate for the use of deadly force.”
The group wrote that science backs up this training, because there is a lag time for the brain to recognize a threat, make a decision based on what an officer is perceiving and then take action. When an officer sees a threat of death or serious injury to themselves or another person, a suspect can fire three to four times before the officer can fire once.
The officers also wonder why use of firearms on animals would be prohibited. The ordinance differs from current policy, which allows use of deadly force against an animal that represents a threat to the public or to the officer. It authorizes police to dispatch an animal that is gravely injured, such as a moose that has been struck by a vehicle, for humanitarian reasons.
As for using deadly force, such as chokeholds, or striking a persons head or neck with an impact weapon or object, the proposed ordinance would be different from current policy Officers are now only allowed to use impact when a subject is actively resisting, such as kicking, biting, punching, pushing, barricading, or pulling away.
“Sometimes officers aim for the leg and hit the hip, aim for an arm and hit a shoulder, all inadvertently. In the ordinance, an officer could be punchiest for using an impact weapon in a situation of active resistance if the weapon strikes the person’s head or neck, even if it was not the officers intent to strike the person in either are.
Finally, the officers say that the ordinance section saying that “under no circumstances shall deadly force be authorized against a person in handcuffs or restrained to a similar extent by any device, is already in current policy. There are extenuating circumstances if it’s objectively reasonable to prevent bodily harm to the officer or another person or persons.
The officers have asked for greater communication with the Assembly to help them understand current policy and to share with them feedback they have received from their association members.
Let the police do their job !!
Thank you to the brave men and women of our police force !!
City council give up your security !!
ATTN: Anchorage Assembly
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You’re FIRED!
Double fired!
Double Fired!!!! What a bunch of self-serving, self-centric, ignorant idiots, led by a zealot, narcissistic mayor. Anchorage – you nee
Anchorage, you need to pay attention, at the ballot box, if you don’t want more of this idiocy!
Here I sit in the smallest room in the house with Ms. Zalatel’s proposal before me.
Soon, it will be behind me.
Rooster Cogburn once said “Too tough on the rats baby sister.” In 1969, the thugs and thug lovers were complaining. Nothing changes. Thugs still are thugs. Haven’t learned a thing.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer group of people. APD & AFD unions were front and center electing these clowns to office. In the words of HL Mencken,
“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”
APD & AFD are now in the line of fire from the very people they labored mightily to put into office over the last decade. Color me amused. Cheers –
A better Mencken quote for all of us that have become tired of our weak suck representation and the trash in it’s wake would be:
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Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
We should authorize and limit the police to pouting and stomping their feet when dealing with non-compliant individuals, including repeat violent felons. That should be enough to bring things under control, wouldn’t you say?
Need to knock some heads. Bring back the night sticks.
Maybe it is time for the public safety unions to start supporting those running for office that actually support them and what they do, versus those who get their support due to only supporting union contracts, and kneeling for protesters and organizations who would see them disbanded and defunded. Wake up guys and girls…..
This is what happens when you elect ignorant people like Meg Zalatel to public office. I would suggest that Meg Zalatel patrol the streets of Anchorage on a graveyard shift. Police officers have families too and the goal is to go home to your wife and kids after your tour of duty
I am glad I voted for Christine Hill during that election cycle.
Any candidate who is endorsed by Dunbar has to be arrogant.
I agree. Before handing down these mandates and “rewriting” these pages, do the job you are trying to restrict!! Ride with our first responders for a week. See what you see. Then maybe you will have a better understanding of what they need in order to do their job.
Until those morons put on a uniform and do an officer’s job, they have NO room to talk because it is not remotely possible for them to understand what police officers face every day. Until that happens, they are merely talking out their backsides.
So, what are the problems with the Anchorage police? Nothing, nada! There are NO statistics or facts demonstrating ANY problem with Anchorage police enforcement. The assembly and mayor are merely patronizing a vocal, ignorant, liberal, mostly young, minority that see themselves as victims, as described by the left biased, mainstream media. It’s extremely doubtful any of this “minority” are significant taxpayers, or do community volunteer or charity work. They have no idea how government serves our citizenry, how communities work, how government is funded, and no knowledge of American civics or western civilization history. They are loud, disrespectful, belligerent and contribute nothing to our community.
This is all about global progressives unthoughtfully changing our community – because they can! How this unruly mob of leftist, misguided, ignorant idealists have more influence with elected officals than the working,, taxpaying citizens of Anchorage who built and support our community, I will never understand.
This isn’t just about neutralizing our law enforcement. It’s about illegal mayoral executive orders, it’s about putting the homeless in taxpayer funded homes in our neighborhoods, and next to schools that our children attend. It’s about municipal bonding debt that is never paid off. It’s about new, unjustified tax proposals every single year – things that affect the quality of life for your family and community.
Don’t just vote. Talk, out-organize this vocal minority, and vote these patsy assembly members, and our ambitious, narcissistic mayor and his cronies out of office. Put knowledgeable citizens that care about our community in elected office – before our city follows the path of Seattle and Portland. Don’t just vote, become involved!
And, please join, “Blue Lives Matter!” Our LEOs need our individual, community, and financial support. We are truely blessed to have the quality police department we have!
Well said! Totally agree! Our family is grateful for the brave men & women of APD!
My late husband, a dedicated APD officer, 15 years deceased, is spinning in his grave at the shenanigans going on now. Law enforcement is vital in a civilized society for the reasons we are seeing today. Sadly, he predicted such happenings if politics intervened, as they are now, in fair and just law enforcement. Thank you for your comment, Karen Kirkpatrick.
Yeah, shoot’em in the leg. Maybe you won’t get hit in the return fire. If you do, it’s your fault. Eliminate the threat, period.
We have an outstanding police force and command team. Let them continue to do the excellent job our citizens have come to expect. This is nothing more than folks trying to turn Anchorage into Seattle or Portland and follow the Antifa blueprint. Just say NO!
I’ll just say that when an officer becomes involved in an intense struggle with a subject, possibly where the suspect tries to take their firearm or the subject attempts to subdue or incapacitate the officer it needs to be made clear the officer can use any and all techniques or resources necessary to prevent those things. Even the most experienced and best trained officers can find themselves on the short end of the stock. At that point it should be clear…anything goes, and I mean anything to preserve their own life. That includes reaching for that big rock on the ground and using it to smash the suspect in the head to get him/or off you if you believe they are trying to kill you. Also, in that situation, any choke hold should be ok. I don’t think this person understands the nature of combat if it comes to that. Anything goes to save your own skin.
Yep. People don’t understand that resisting arrest can lead to other things. Treat to officer with respect and you will get it in return.
Lol
Recall Zalatel !!!!!!! She is a menace to public and police safety. Typical liberal idiot.
Chuck/July 2020
Looks like the Assembly is just trying to drive more people away from coming to Anchorage to shop by making it more unsafe for law abiding citizens to be kept safe by the well trained police.
Perhaps Zalatel would change her Leftist position on these rules if they were only unforced specifically on her home and family members while under attack from a hoard of homeless meth heads with assault rifles??
If the assembly is successful with this ordinance, then if any member of the Assembly calls 911 for the police.
The police Will respond to the Assembly member with all deliberate speed.
To each of the perverted thinking assembly persons and Berkowitz, “you are fired.” You were not put in a job by election to destroy this borough and city. You were put in a job by election to maintain and work with the population to better the borough. None of the assembly and the Mayor has ever exhibited a healthy pattern of working with the people of the community but only a dictatorial, evil pattern of destruction. They are an unhealthy group of people caught up in a thinking of and for themselves, not for the “people” as they have been elected to do. Time to get them out. Time to sue them, individually and as a group and time to re-call each member. If they were put in by the “people” they can be taken out by the “people.” Get you gone.
Let the police do what they need to. Thank you for all you do for us.. Not only do they encounter our alcoholic infested drugged induced psycho “flying” residents but encounter many other weird “off the wall” residents in their behaviors. Sometimes they have to used extreme measures to insure the safety of others..
Did SB91 teach us nothing? We need our Officers to be as empowered as possible to protect law-abiding-citizens from those who would do us harm.
The redundancy in this proposed “Zalatel no-deadly-force plan” is a clear indicator that those who wrote it are far removed from reality. It is an attempt to jump on board an ill placed fear and appease a small yet loud percentage of the occupants in our country.
Please do not take away the rights of the Officers sworn to protect us!
Double fired!
There is a significant difference from being charged with a crime and being convicted of a crime. A Police Officer who violates this ordinance, has to be convicted, first. It is very unlikely that anyone would convict an Officer who was objectively acting in the best interest of public safety. Many people are unaware that the people have the right to render a not guilty verdict if they judge the law to be unjust.
Any idiot with at least half a brain understands that the police have an incredibly difficult job, and may be called upon to make quick decisions based on insufficient data with consequences that may last a lifetime. Don’t make their jobs harder. We enjoy the peace that we have because of the men and women in blue who serve our communities.
The reason we all know George Floyd’s name, and Freddie Gray’s name and Breonna Taylor’s name and Rodney King’s name is because these things happen so very rarely. When they do, by all means, TAKE ACTION against all officers involved who abused their authority! But don’t blunt our officers’ edge by burdening them with unnecessary rules to solve a problem that, for all intents and purposes, doesn’t even exist in Anchorage. The last thing I want is for a good cop to lose his or her life because the proverbial s… hit the proverbial fan and instead of responding to the threat, they were analyzing the options.
So, Assembly members, Anchorage will be watching how you treat our officers. I, for one, will not support anyone on the Assembly who seeks to stop APD from doing the job they were trained to do.
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