As crime continues to surge in Anchorage, the city’s liberal-listing Assembly is forging ahead with a vision to reshape police oversight — starting with a community workshop that aims to “reimagine” public safety.
The Task Force to Reimagine the Public Safety Advisory Commission, formed earlier this year, will hold a Community Workshop on Monday, Aug. 5, at the Spenard Recreation Center. The stated goal is to gather input from residents about what safety and well-being mean to them and how public safety systems can “best serve” the community.
The event is facilitated by Denali Daniels and Associates and is billed as a free, in-person forum for “open, honest and constructive dialogue” about policing and safety perceptions in Anchorage.
But beneath the surface, the initiative is anti-police, is a product of Assembly members who have accused the police of overreacting in violent, dangerous situations. The civilian oversight is a form of second-guessing police officers who are coping with Anchorage’s growing wave of psychotic and drug-addled offenders.
After the George Floyd incident in Minneapolis and the global unrest that followed, a group of municipal leaders under the National League of Cities formed what they called the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, aiming to overhaul how cities keep people safe. Launched in 2021 after months of “listening sessions,” the effort, co-chaired by leftist mayors and backed by progressive think tanks like the Vera Institute, set out to redefine public safety with a heavy emphasis on racial equity, “credible messengers,” and reducing jail use.
In Anchorage, it appears the Assembly wants to recreate SB 91 all over again. That was the state law that led to a massive crime wave because criminals were arrested and released. It was repealed soon after Mike Dunleavy became governor.
The national task force issued two reports full of recommendations for local governments, framed as a “21st-century public safety agenda.” The goals? Promote alternatives to traditional law enforcement, rethink budgets, and elevate activist-driven ideas on justice reform. This is what Anchorage leftist leaders have in mind.
Assemblyman Felix Rivera, who has supported past police reform efforts, released a statement saying, “Anchorage’s public safety systems should reflect the values and needs of the people they serve… We will start by asking what public safety means to our community.”
It’s more political than practical. Instead of standing behind officers as they deal with increasingly dangerous criminals, the Assembly majority seems more focused on adding layers of bureaucracy and public relations workshops.
The push for a new, more expansive Public Safety Advisory Commission comes as police officers face rising violence in the streets, staffing shortages, and a revolving door justice system. Meanwhile, the Assembly is seeking broader community oversight, which is the national trend among progressive-led city councils and assemblies.
The August 5 event is one of several planned engagement efforts, including an online community feedback form, where residents are encouraged to share their values, concerns, and “lived experiences” related to public safety.
Community Workshop – Reimagining Public Safety
Date: Aug. 5
Time: 5:30–7:30 pm
Location: Spenard Recreation Center, Multipurpose Room, 2020 W 48th Avenue
Pre-registration encouraged but not required
Virtual sessions to be announced at a later date
If Anchorage citizens like having to stay up late and protect their property and then go to work the next day with little sleep, then sure, do a local SB91.
Me, I got sick of it.
Also, when citizens are protecting themselves and their property, they don’t have the advantage of police training and are more likely to kill the criminals or die themselves.
Read this recently.
The law/police do not exist to protect the population from the criminals.
The law/police exist to protect the criminals from the population.
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For exactly the reason you state.
When police draw and use a gun… it IS to kill. But yes… if you own a gun you NEED to be trained!!!
For over 100 years the National Rifle Association has been training law-abiding Americans of all ages to safely handle and use firearms. They offer training specific to certain types of guns, for self-defense (as separate from hunting), shooting range safety, ammo reloading, child safety, and target shooting. These programs are either free or have a nominal charge. Some programs are offered just to women for women who prefer that environment.
Every law-abiding adult in Anchorage should be armed, and yes, as you said, training is necessary. Law enforcement seldom arrives in time to stop a crime. When allowed to do so the FBI estimates that across the US guns are used in self-defense up to 2 million times a year, usually without a shot being fired. Even though AK is one of 30 constitutional carry states, so no permit is required to carry concealed or open, I recommend to AK concealed permit course even though it has a cost and it takes either a full day or a day and one-half.
As a general rule, the average concealed carry permit holder is better trained than the average cop who only fires their gun to make yearly qualifications. The reason? They want to be, whereas cops have to be.
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If police level training is your baseline, we are all in danger.
BROKEN – Anchorage city government.
It’s simple – enforce ALL laws on the books EQUALLY against ALL citizens.
Now we enforce laws differently for the homeless druggies, for illegal aliens, and minorities.
The only class of people who the laws are enforced with ZERO TOLERANCE are white, straight, Christian, males that go to work every day.
Crime is a huge reason Anchorage and Alaska cannot recruit top talent. The number one reason we cannot recruit top talent? Failing schools. Second is crime. I am a former recruiter who was unable to recruit engineers to Alaska. Talent has families. You get a young mom researching Anchorage, the engineering candidate would decline the offer despite the high salary. Millions in energy, mining, construction, and oil and gas projects are coming online and where is the talent? Until Anchorage cleans up the city and cleans up our ‘failing’ schools, projects will import labor leading to man camps. LaFrance and the Assembly own all of it.
LaFrance and company could care less about talent. They’ve got DEI to hire people, no skills needed.
SB-91 was the insane legislation that was pushed by Coghill- and Dunleavy was one of the legislators that voted for it. Cops, and the public, hated it. Criminals were arrested over and over with little or no consequence.
Now the liberals are showing they can be as moronic as conservatives. This nonsense that we need to reimagine public safety is pure drivel. I took friends from the Lower 48 through Anchorage recently. I had to explain how the city used to be great, but now we had to be very careful. During a trip into a Fred Meyer store one friend could not believe that laundry detergent was locked inside metal cases. “Why?”, he asked? Upon leaving the store we had to get past two armed security guys. Fred Meyer has to place the cost for all this extra security into the products it sells- so citizens pay twice. Once in our high property taxes, and then again in higher costs for groceries. This is how the assembly and mayor hurt the little people the most- by making essentials less affordable.
Later, as we drove past homeless encampments and the garbage strewn around by the drug users, we passed by pot shops- and my one friend commented how selling drugs (pot) sure made things better- his sarcasm was spot on.
We need to stop pretending like selling addictive, and powerful drugs “legally” is okay. Where’s the legislature? Clueless, and failing to lead, like usual.
Hey, it’s free.
I’m thinking about starting a rottweiler kennel in the valley.
Q: What is the fastest way to stop any progress whatsoever?
A: Form a committee.
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And, here we have the leftists (read that as children) on the assembly forming a committee. Why? Because it looks like they are taking action, but they do not actually have to do anything at all. Pats on the back all around.
Good; glad they are doing nothing.
The less this bunch actually does the better.
Unfortunately, they are spending my tax dollars to do nothing.
I imagine this as public safety. Incarcerate the hobos for the least possible infraction. Get them off the street and triage them into in patient psych facilities or in patient long term substance abuse treatment or long term in patient JAIL. Sick to death of this crap.
Reimagine my butt.
Suzanne, can you compile these comments and forward them to the assembly?
I would prefer to reimagine a municipal assembly that is not 75% marxist.
Limpwristed leadership at its limpest.
One of the perks of living in a state that is said to be 3-5 years behind the rest of the Lower 48 is that whenever a terrible policy idea is implemented in a progressive city, it will sometimes show itself as a colossal failure before our govt has the chance to put it into practice.
I was shocked when the assembly didnt set up tents offering free alcohol and drugs in a “safe space” on 4th Avenue after San Francisco started the practice in what shockingly turned out to be a not very good idea.
Issue: We don’t have psych facilities and our jails are full. When we do jail, these physically weakened individuals unfortunately pass in our custody and the state gets sued.
Jim is on the right track. Rather than spend big money enabling addiction and psychosis by free housing, let’s fund expansion of inpatient psychiatric and drug/alcohol treatment centers. Enforce our present laws, but offer diversion to court mandated treatment instead of jail time to the addicted or mental health involved offenders. Honestly! This exact system worked wonders, in Anchorage, just a few years ago. Why, is this so difficult for our leadership to accomplish?
“these physically weakened individuals unfortunately pass in our custody”
Jim, can you please explain this cryptic phrase?
The only thing Derek Chauvin did wrong was show up for trial.
The Alaska Dept. of Law, Office of Special Prosecutions reviews all officer related shootings in the state. Anchorage police officers wear cameras, greatly aiding the post shooting investigations.
‘https://www.law.alaska.gov/department/criminal/OSP.html
Why would the Assembly want to change that? Could it be because the police have been exonerated after all of the recent shootings, which are at an increased rate and higher than ever before? They want to crucify a few cops and place blame on them, making it look like they’re doing something, and taking the blame off of the stupid criminals who can’t follow the simple instruction from the police to drop their weapon.
“Assemblyman Felix Rivera, who has supported past police reform efforts, released a statement saying, “Anchorage’s public safety systems should reflect the values and needs of the people they serve… We will start by asking what public safety means to our community.”
Really Mr. Rivera? You actually have to ask?
Here are common sense values on public safety:
We can walk downtown at ANY TIME OF DAY without being heckled, have to watch people “getting it on” or do their bathroom time in town square.
We can walk trails in ANY Muni park without having to dodge needles, trash or people yelling obscenities, dealing drugs or starting fires. We should expect our parks not to look like a Favela.
That cars do not get broken into when parked at the trailhead and theft of property will be investigated regardless of a person’s circumstances.
That all ordinances and codes are enforced not just the ones where the “violators” are people who have property and funds to pay fines…….
So in essence I want the police to enforce the laws within the legal framework already established and I would like the mayor and the assembly to get out of their way!
They aren’t imagining.
They are hallucinating.
Cancel the ‘imagining’ theater BS, send the Assembly to the south side of Chicago for a week where they can koombyah into reality, without a tax payer credit card. Watch them wallow in adolescent contrition. Time to change the game here peoples.
If the assembly is so eager to “Defund” something, how about defunding Meg Zaletel and her Coalition to perpetuate homelessness (oops sorry I mean END homelessness) and all the myriad of non-profits, who get money to then “coordinate” with other non-profits to “help the homeless” (while of course taking their cut). It is a racket and I bet if you turn off that spigot and enforce our laws, we would see an almost immediate change!
Imagine Mr. Rivera just Imagine!