JUNEAU – The Alaska House helped strengthen public safety in rural Alaska Thursday when it passed legislation that would update the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) program. Senate Bill 81, which passed 34-2, implements seven recommendations that the bipartisan and bicameral VPSO Working Group made in their report, which was adopted on January 24, 2020. […]
(Anchorage) – In a newly created position, a retired Alaska State Trooper returns as VPSO operations director to reimagine the 43-year-old Village Public Safety Officer program. On FirstHand, the podcast, Joel Hard says VPSOs are so critical to public safety in villages, that he could not have done his Trooper job without them. Now […]
Dozens of Alaska Villages Have No Police At All Dozens of Alaska communities still have no police to protect their residents. “Every community deserves public safety. Letting a criminal assault community members, with no protection from any police officer isn’t justice, it’s negligence,” said Mike Williams, Sr. and Les Gara in a joint statement today. “All Alaskans […]
On Thursday evening, Wildlife troopers on Prince of Wales and Village Public Safety Officers on the island did a check on an unoccupied home in Hollis that resulted in the arrest of a Washington man on several charges. VPSOs and Wildlife troopers went to the home at 5:15 pm on Thursday and immediately discovered fresh […]
Two Prince of Wales men were taken into custody after a report of a burglary and extensive search at a cabin near Kasaan on Saturday. A witness called in to report that as they were going to check on the cabin they discovered two unknown men actively burglarizing the property. When seen by the caller, […]
At 2:55 am on Monday morning, the VPSO of White Mountain, Dan Harrelson, called in to AST and advised that search and rescue crews were on the scene and working to rescue three individuals on two ATVs trapped in a Golovin Bay overflow. All three riders, 29-year-old Joseph Fagundes, 27-year-old Stephanie Fahey and 23-year-old […]
Fairbanks-based Alaska State Troopers report that a female jumper on the Chena River Bridge was successfully pulled from the water late on Saturday night. Troopers received a call reporting a person on the ledge on the Chena River Bridge at 10:22pm on Saturday night and responded to the scene. There they found an 18-year-old teen […]
Alaska State Troopers report that the escapee from the Emmonak Jail was recaptured on Friday morning and has been further transported to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Correctional Center. 27-year-old Brandon Agathluk Escaped from the Emmonak Police Department at approximately 2:30 am on Wednesday morning after being arrested on two arrest warrants, ASDT said. Agathluk was located […]
SITKA — The Alaska Law Enforcement Training (ALET) Academy’s second session of the year began Sunday, July 28, with the enrollment of 39 recruits representing police agencies around the state. The class includes 15 Alaska State Trooper recruits, one Wildlife Trooper recruit, seven Village Public Safety Officer recruits, and 16 police officer recruits from11 […]