Legislature(2023 - 2024)BARNES 124
02/06/2024 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| Overview: Department of Public Safety | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
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+ teleconferenced
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
February 6, 2024
8:02 a.m.
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 a series of 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 provides higher
level support to police departments across the state, and vice
versa; there could be potential for creating a Village Public
Safety Officer (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 is 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 include
significant drug investigations and seizures, solved cold cases,
MMIP unit, equipment and training upgrades, and 24/7 high-
quality public safety service. The division faces challenges,
such as recruitment and retention, rural housing, and illicit
drug and alcohol importation.
8:45:59 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL, in response to a series of committee
question, said federal bureaucracy presents 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 include 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 are 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 needs 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 are the backbone of the department, and the
job could not be done without them; PC-12s are necessary to
respond to serious crimes and active events in remote villages;
the department has 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 is looking to replace its
noncommissioned patrol vessel in Southeast Alaska. He explained
that patrol vessels are set up as "floating offices" to conduct
investigations and community policing. He reported that James
Hoelscher is 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 a series of committee
questions, stated that grantees were funded by the state to run
the VPSO program; the department is 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 are inadequate and need 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 house 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 have also been
implemented to help officers who are struggling with the
stresses of the job. He noted that the wellness program is in
the process of hiring a mental health professional for the team.
He expressed confidence that the department is 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 needs 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 |