Anchorage faces potential crisis with the local police force. Lack of police, not mentioned in Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s budget for 2025, is reaching a critical level with resignations increasing.
On top of that, the Anchorage Assembly and mayor control the public narrative over officer-involved shootings and their radical supporters in the community are demanding third-party control of Anchorage police.
Each of the police-involved shootings has involved dangerous suspects with weapons, some of whom have shot or shot at officers. All officers have been exonerated by the state Office of Special Prosecutions.
Mayor LaFrance and Assembly have reacted to these assaults against officers by calling for independent reviews, civilian oversight, and the mayor specifically blamed officers — even before an investigation was started.
Then there’s the Anchorage Police Department Employees Association, through its Political Action Committee, which endorsed or supported these anti-law-enforcement Assembly members and the mayor.
How are the rank and file police officers reacting to their own union’s slow and timid support in most cases? Sources say they are discouraged.
The union finally sent a strong message to the mayor, but only after pressure from members. An unprecedented number of officers attended a membership meeting in September, where Mayor LaFrance was invited to try and explain why she threw them under the bus after the Easter Leafa shooting on Aug. 13. LaFrance had immediately called a press conference to say the shooting should not have happened.
After meeting with the police force members, she promised a public apology. She did not make that apology in the same setting that she cast the blame — in a press conference setting. Instead, she gave a half-hearted “apology” at an Assembly Public Health and Safety Committee meeting, which was hastily called and witnessed by few. Her “apology” was a winding paragraph of explaining that everyone deserves fair treatment. She never actually said, “I’m sorry that I did not back our men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our community.”
The union is also contributing to the staffing and morale problems at the Anchorage Police Department.
APD officers, by both internal police policy and Municipal Code of Ethics, are not allowed to take public political positions under the color of authority. It’s not only wrong, it’s illegal.
But the police union is doing so — endorsing candidates that the police force itself isn’t supportive of. In a recent political flyer supporting Eagle River Sen. Kelly Merrick, a personal endorsement was made by the union’s vice president wearing full APD uniform — a glaringly illegal act.
The photo of Police Officer Matt Fraize is the actual property of the Anchorage Police Department and officers may not use their badges in support of candidates.
Anchorage Municipal Code 1.15.025(I)(4) provides:
A municipal employee shall not:
a. Use position over another municipal employee to solicit a campaign contribution, endorsement, or other support for a political candidate.
b. While on duty, engage in political campaigning for elected public office, political endorsement, or election campaign fundraising for any person or office.
c. When engaging in political activity outside scheduled work hours, act in a manner to suggest that the employee is acting in the employee’s official capacity, or has official municipal endorsement, or is otherwise representing the municipality.
d. Use official position to discourage or inhibit any person from exercising voter franchise.
e. Use or depict municipal property and facilities in a manner unavailable to the public. This restriction applies to use or depiction of a uniform in political endorsement if the uniform identifies the person as a municipal employee, regardless of ownership of the uniform.
The Anchorage police officers know the union is doing something illegal, but now they can’t even object to the illegality, because they are already wedged between a mayor and Assembly that has made them a target and a union that barely stands up for them while they face danger every day.
The attacks against police officers continue by leftists on the Assembly’s Health and Safety Committee. A meeting this past week included a report to the committee for a major change to the Internal Affairs discipline process that was explained as a “modification of the current procedure.”
What is that modification? A third party picked by anti-police politicians will investigate and make the final reports as to whether there was a violation of policies, procedures, or training and ultimately will decide what discipline Officer Alexander Roman receives; Roman is the officer who shot Easter Leafa, who was coming at him with a knife on Aug. 13.
Although Roman’s actions have been cleared by the State Office of Special Prosecutions, Mayor LaFrance wants a “third party” of her choosing. Is it unclear how the union, which is completely in the tank for LaFrance, will react to this “outside” review of one of its officers, which may even violate the union’s collective bargaining agreement.
The ultimate goal seems to be to curb the use force officers can employ when dealing with suspects who are attacking them.
So far, the union has been silent how it will react to this extra-judicial, politicized investigation. The union has also been silent on the lack of prosecutors in the city and the fact that 50% of arrested criminals are being released without trial, due to Rule 45, which requires a trial before 120 days.
Police say that only operating under the influence (OUI) and domestic violence cases are being prosecuted at this point, and thousands of arrests every year are being dismissed by the courts due to lack of timely trials. Read more here:
But the union has been busy hanging flyers on the doors of Eagle River and Chugiak in support of its chosen candidate, Kelly Merrick, who is in poor standing in the community due to her allegiance to Democrats like the ones leading the attacks on police officers.
The flyer makes the outlandish claim that Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group that backs Jared Goecker for Senate, is a “defund the police” group, raising the question: Who will take the police union to task for illegal campaigning?
LaFrance and her close-knit circle of advisers are in way over their heads.
They believe they will prevail, and my bet is they will, NOT AT A HUGE COST.
The admin and police relationship are totally in the toilet and not coming back.
LaFrance is the wrong person for the job– she is the problem
I expect the Police to get a pound or two of flesh from all of this and the citizens will pay the bill.
Just stop providing protection to the Communist Mayor and Assembly. Let them provide their own protection.
Yes, and invite the local homeless camp to come in for warmth and refreshment during the meeting while the police are away.
Public unions are evil.
The cops should not vote for the libs just to get raises.
This use to be a safe city now under liberal control the citizens are not safe.
Look at the homeless and all the trouble with them and now the gangs and drugs have taken over.
There is going to be vigilante Justice by the people.
It is obvious that liberal policy’s don’t work as the criminal has more rights than the law abiding citizen.
Elections have consequences.
To my understanding, Muni elections are not held at the same time as the general election because we are too stupid to comprehend that much information all at once. So they split it up into multiple less complex elections. The result is very few vote in Muni elections. So the commies often win these as they use outside money to “get the vote out”. like RCV that was always the plan. Subvert the process and conquer.
No more payments for wrongdoing out of the public coffers. Make the mayor and officials accountable for their actions by having to pay out of their own pockets for any actions that taken to the courts are considered wrong.