Members of the Anchorage Assembly unanimously voted at their Tuesday meeting to confirm Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s pick to lead the Anchorage Police Department, Police Chief Sean Case.
Case, a longtime member of the Anchorage Police Department, prioritizes restoring trust with the public after a string of police shootings this year put the city’s body camera policy in the spotlight. He put forward a revised policy to release body camera footage within 45 days of the incident.
Former police chief Bianca Cross refused to release footage of the May 13 shooting of Kristopher Handy, despite the department’s initial claim that he pointed a gun at officers being contradicted by private security footage. Handy was the first of three people killed by Anchorage police this year.
Several Assembly members pursuing improved oversight of the Anchorage Police Department said they were impressed by initial conversations with Case.
“As someone who has tried to work on policies around APD in the past under a prior chief and was met with staunch resistance, this is a welcome change, and I think it’s a welcome change for our community,” Assembly Vice Chair Meg Zaletel said before the vote. “I hope, Chief Case, as you embark on this role, the community walks away with the same impression that I’ve been given so far. I think that’s a huge responsibility, particularly in light of the uptick — the insane amount of shootings we’ve had recently.”
Several other members said they are keenly interested in improving transparency and accountability, suggesting that the Anchorage Assembly would be more proactive in ensuring that happens. Case welcomed the scrutiny.
“When we put things in policy, we’re making a commitment to the community to follow through with that policy. That’s how we’re held accountable,” he said. “If we move forward with the current body-worn camera policy with the 45-day release, I fully expect that the community and this body will hold me accountable if we don’t hit that 45-day mark. It’s my job to be open and modify the things the police department has done so the community has the opportunity to provide feedback.”
At the same meeting, the Assembly voted 9-1 to approve a resolution urging the Anchorage Police Department to take several steps to improve transparency around body cameras.
That includes allowing the Handy family to view the body camera footage without paying records request fees, calls for a 30-day release window instead of the 45-day window proposed by Case and calls for establishing an appeal process if public records requests are denied. It also asks the department to consider what backers said is a more straightforward and understandable proposal jointly proposed by the Alaska Black Caucus, NAACP Anchorage and the Northern Justice Project.
The updated body camera policy is set to be taken up at a work session on Friday.
Assembly member Zac Johnson, a former Alaska State Trooper, was the lone vote against the Assembly resolution. While he recognized the need for improved transparency, he said he was concerned about releasing footage that would negatively impact an investigation. He noted that investigations are typically treated like potential murders.
Chief Case has echoed some of those sentiments in earlier interviews, noting in an interview with Alaska Public Media that the investigation and understanding what happened from the officer’s perspective is essential to investigating the shooting.
“It’s very important to me during the investigative process, both the criminal and the administrative, that we get a statement from the officer prior to them watching the video. I want to know what their perception was of the incident,” he said.
Case said it’s critical that the officer describe their recollection of the event, rather than summarize what’s seen in the video.
The Anchorage Assembly also unanimously confirmed Eva Gardner as the Municipal Attorney. Several Assembly members lauded Gardner’s work, saying she has been results-oriented and is working quickly to staff up the city’s legal department.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.
