Tag: Justice

We are thrilled to participate in the 6th Annual Bettye Davis African American Healthy Families Summit on February 8, 2025, at Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School. This year, the Justice Committee will be hosting a panel focused on police and community relations, as well as civilian oversight. The Alaska Black Caucus is honored to […]

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On August 13, 2024, an Anchorage Police Officer shot and killed 16-year-old Easter Leafa. In response to this incident and the five prior officer-involved shootings that occurred in Anchorage during the summer of 2024, Mayor Suzanne LaFrance and Chief of Police Sean Case announced a series of actions on August 15, 2024. Mayor LaFrance directed […]

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Civilian Oversight of the Anchorage Police Department

This spring, patrol officers of the Anchorage Police Department (APD) were equipped with body-worn cameras. This summer, APD officers were involved in the shootings that resulted in four fatalities. In three of those incidents, the events were captured on body cameras. While the footage was unsettling, it provided the public with insight into the police’s use of deadly force in these situations. The Alaska Department of Law ultimately deemed all the shootings “justified.”

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The Anchorage Daily News editorial board must be reading the Alaska Black Caucus Boldly Committed Newsletter. Here is an excerpt from the ADN editorial board on February 3, 2024: “Anchorage police started making promises about implementing body cameras a decade ago, but — as in many places around the country — the wheels didn’t truly […]

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The Justice Committee and the Anchorage School District are presenting a Youth Conference as part of the Bettye Davis Summit on Friday evening, February 9th, from 5:00 to 9:00 pm at the Bettye Davis East High School Auditorium. The conference theme is “Youth and Civic Engagement: The Power of New Ideas and New Leadership”. This […]

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Body Cam Update On October 4, 2023, at the Public Safety Committee Meeting with the Assembly (only a few short days after our op-ed published in ADN), Chief Kerle stated that 350 body cameras are being delivered and should be on 30 officers by the week of November 13, 2023. And then Body Cams will […]

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APD announced (only after being questioned by assembly members) at the Assembly Public Safety Committee meeting on September 6, 2023, that APD has purchased 300 body cameras. The plan appears to have 30 cameras on officers on a trial basis by the end of 2023 and (maybe) fully implemented by the end of 2024. Then, […]

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The Justice Committee has been committed to advocating for implementing body-worn cameras for the Anchorage Police Department for the past two and one-half years. The Alaska Black Caucus, the Northern Justice Project, and the NAACP Anchorage Branch proposed that APD and the Municipality publicly release body cam recordings last February 2022. Then, the Alaska Black […]

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The Justice Committee has been committed to advocating for the implementation of body-worn cameras for the Anchorage Police Department for the past two years. The Alaska Black Caucus, the Northern Justice Project, and the NAACP Anchorage Branch proposed APD, and the Municipality publicly released body cam recordings last February.  Then the Alaska Black Caucus sued […]

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