Legislature(2023 - 2024)BARNES 124
02/06/2024 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview: Department of Public Safety | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
February 6, 2024
8:02 a.m.
DRAFT
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative CJ McCormick, Chair
Representative Kevin McCabe, Vice Chair
Representative Tom McKay
Representative Thomas Baker
Representative Justin Ruffridge
Representative Rebecca Himschoot
Representative Donna Mears
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Representative Andrew Gray
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
JAMES COCKRELL, Commissioner
Department of Public Safety
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented a PowerPoint on the Department of
Public Safety.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:02:55 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK called the House Community and Regional Affairs
Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:02 a.m.
Representatives McKay, Baker, Mears, McCabe, and McCormick were
present at the call to order. Representatives Himschoot and
Ruffridge arrived as the meeting was in progress. Also present
was Representative Gray.
^OVERVIEW: Department of Public Safety
OVERVIEW: Department of Public Safety
8:04:00 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK announced that the only order of business would
be an overview of the Department of Public Safety (DPS).
8:04:40 AM
JAMES COCKRELL, Commissioner, Department of Public Safety (DPS),
presented a PowerPoint, entitled "Department of Public Safety
Overview" [hard copy included in the committee packet]. He
shared the department's mission and key objectives and gave an
overview of the organizational chart.
8:09:12 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL, in response to committee questions,
stated that if the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Borough had a
police department, the Alaska State Troopers (AST) would focus
on providing a more proactive response to highway enforcement
and major crime investigations; AST provided higher level
support to police departments across the state, and vice versa;
there could be potential for creating a VPSO position for the
road system, similar to a reserve sheriff, with a change in
statute; the VPSO program was recently restructured to cement
the program's longevity by instituting a director; the issue of
domestic violence was a societal, statewide issue that could not
be solved by increasing the number of troopers.
8:27:20 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL resumed the presentation by discussing the
coordination of victims' services and the department's statewide
impact, highlighting the state's accredited crime lab. In
response to a committee question, he did not think it would be
prudent to create smaller crime labs across the state.
8:32:44 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL gave an overview of the department's
successes in 2023, including 20 new graduates from the academy;
the creation of a quarterly missing and murdered indigenous
persons (MMIP) report, body cameras deployed on all troopers,
Bristol Bay and Area M fishery enforcement, and the deployment
of the Sexual Assault Examination Kit Tracking system. He
detailed the organization of the Division of Alaska State
Troopers: four detachments, Alaska Bureau of Investigations,
Statewide Drug and Alcohol Enforcement, Dispatch Services, and
Statewide support. The division's accomplishments included
significant drug investigations and seizures, solved cold cases,
MMIP unit, equipment and training upgrades, and 24/7 high-
quality public safety service. The division faced challenges,
such as recruitment and retention, rural housing, and illicit
drug and alcohol importation.
8:45:59 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL, in response to a committee question, said
federal bureaucracy presented a challenge for trooper housing,
which would be a talking point at an upcoming meeting with
Alaska's congressional delegation; U.S. Senator Murkowski
granted the department $3 million for housing; a request for
proposal (RFP) was presented for 17 housing units in Nome.
8:48:00 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL continued the presentation with an
overview of the Division of Alaska Wildlife Troopers. The
division's accomplishments included successful prosecutions of
violators in statewide commercial fisheries, boating safety
education and enforcement, and the prevention of unlawful
commercialization of Alaska's resources. Challenges faced by
the division were the 6,640 miles of coastline in Alaska, the
state's complicated regulatory structure and limited resources,
and the increasing demand for wildlife troopers across the
state. As of January 1, 2024, the department had a vacancy rate
of 17 percent. He acknowledged that the department needed to
increase the number of state troopers and wildlife troopers. He
addressed the DPS aircraft and marine section, indicating that
the aircraft fleet had been modernized with the help of the
administration and the legislature.
8:55:14 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL, in response to committee questions,
stated that aircraft were the backbone of the department, and
the job could not be done without them; PC-12s were necessary to
respond to serious crimes and active events in remote villages;
the department had a combination of both trooper pilots and
professional pilots.
9:02:45 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL continued the discussion of the aircraft
and marine sections. He said DPS was looking to replace its
noncommissioned patrol vessel in Southeast Alaska. He explained
that patrol vessels were set up as "floating offices" to conduct
investigations and community policing. He reported that James
Hoelscher was the new director of the Village Public Safety
Officer Division. A Tribal liaison was also assigned to the
program.
9:06:27 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL, in response to committee questions,
stated that grantees were funded by the state to run the VPSO
program; the department was considering reinstating the regional
public safety officers as an elevated VPSO position - similar to
a supervisor - to provide training and support; jails in rural
Alaska were inadequate and needed to be addressed.
9:13:16 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL resumed the presentation with a summary of
the Division of Fire and Life Safety. Challenges faced by the
division included limited fire response capabilities and fire
education resources, in addition to deputy fire marshal
recruitment. He outlined the organizational structure of the
department's statewide support component and the Victim Services
Division, which housed the Council on Domestic Violence and
Sexual Assault (CDVSA), the Violent Crimes Compensation Board,
the Victim Navigator Unit, the Domestic Violence Training Unit,
and the Missing Persons Clearinghouse for MMIP. He highlighted
the vibrancy of the wellness program that was created in 2020.
Peer support and critical incident response teams had also been
implemented to help officers who were struggling with the
stresses of the job. He noted that the wellness program was in
the process of hiring a mental health professional to the team.
He expressed confidence that the department was headed in the
right direction and would continue to focus on providing a
higher level of public safety to Alaskans.
9:24:30 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL, in response to committee questions, said
the state needed to invest in 911 in rural Alaska. He shared
his recent experience on patrol in the Mat-Su.
9:31:06 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee meeting was
adjourned at 9:31 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| DPS Overview S CRA 2.6.pdf |
HCRA 2/6/2024 8:00:00 AM |
DPS |
| (H) CRA DPS Overview Follow-Up.pdf |
HCRA 2/6/2024 8:00:00 AM |
Follow-up to 2.6.24 DPS Overview |