Legislature(2023 - 2024)BUTROVICH 205
02/22/2023 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation: Alaska Police Policy Project | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
February 22, 2023
1:32 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Matt Claman, Chair
Senator James Kaufman
Senator Löki Tobin
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Cathy Giessel
Senator Jesse Kiehl, Vice Chair
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: ALASKA POLICE POLICY PROJECT
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
CHIEF STEVE DUTRA, President
Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police
North Pole, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided the Alaska Police Policy Project
presentation.
CHIEF ED MERCER, Vice President
Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided the Alaska Police Policy Project
presentation.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:32:30 PM
CHAIR MATT CLAMAN called the Senate Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting to order at 1:32 p.m. Present at the call to order were
Senators Kaufman, Giessel, Tobin, Kiehl and Chair Claman.
^PRESENTATION: Alaska Police Policy Project
PRESENTATION: Alaska Police Policy Project
1:33:05 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN announced the consideration of the Alaska Police
Policy Project presentation.
1:33:42 PM
CHIEF STEVE DUTRA, President, Alaska Association of Chiefs of
Police, North Pole, Alaska, introduced himself.
1:33:48 PM
CHIEF ED MERCER, Vice President, Alaska Association of Chiefs of
Police, Juneau, Alaska, introduced himself.
CHIEF DUTRA began with the presentation titled, Alaska Police
Policy Project. He remarked that the project partnered with the
Alaska Municipal League. He began with slide 2, "What is it."
• It is a way to ensure fair, equitable, safe,
consistent access to policies for ALL police
departments at a price small villages, cities, and
communities can afford.
• It is a way to help safeguard the civil liberties of
Alaskan citizens.
• It is a way to help pave the course to accreditation
for all police departments in Alaska.
• It is a way for everyone to play a part in best
policing practices.
1:36:20 PM
CHIEF DUTRA continued with slide 3, "Why do we need it?"
IT IS TIME!
Accountability, Public trust, Standards, & Training.
CONSISTENCY!
Liability reduction for everyone!
1:37:21 PM
CHIEF DUTRA continued with slide 4, "Benefits to Alaska."
60 ~ PLUS AGENCIES
Approximately 38 police agencies
Approximately 30 villages
ACCREDITATION
Currently only 2 (Kenai, Juneau)
REDUCE LIABILITY
Less mistakes less liability, saving Alaskans
across
the state in all communities.
No Guarantee how many will use.
Allow all agencies access to model policies
Save Lives
1:38:32 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN asked about Kenai and Juneau as the only two
accredited communities. He wondered why Anchorage was not
listed.
CHIEF MERCER responded that Anchorage is not accredited. The
communities listed are accurate. Juneau was first accredited in
2009. He explained that Juneau, Kenai and Soldotna were
accredited through the Oregon Accreditation Alliance (OAA). He
added that the Anchorage Airport Police were accredited through
the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies
(CALEA). He explained that CALEA offered police agencies
national and international accreditation.
1:40:01 PM
CHIEF DUTRA moved to slide 5, "Why do we care about
accreditation?"
1.Increased Community Advocacy
2.Support from government
3.Defense against lawsuits
4.Reduce Risk and Liability Exposure
5.Greater Accountability
1:42:02 PM
SENATOR TOBIN requested examples of the OAA accreditation. She
asked to view the document highlighted on slide 5 more closely.
She requested a larger copy of the document titled Benefits of
Participation in CALEA Accreditation, shown on slide 5.
1:42:53 PM
CHIEF MERCER agreed to provide the document to the committee
chairs office.
1:44:40 PM
SENATOR TOBIN queried policy creation. She wondered who
evaluated the policies for implicit or subconscious bias. She
asked how policies are responding to the unique needs of
different populations, surmising that Oregon communities differ
greatly from Alaska communities.
CHIEF MERCER replied that OAA had 105 standards to meet for
accreditation. He explained that policies are created for
individual communities considering their unique needs. He spoke
to the value of community involvement when screening for
implicit bias. He acknowledged that the state was in the early
stages of exploration related to accreditation and uniform
policy for all law enforcement officers.
SENATOR TOBIN experienced difficulty hearing Chief Mercer due to
audio difficulties over teleconference. She requested additional
information about the intersectionality between law enforcement
in different parts of Alaska. She asked about differing rules
for tribal government and law enforcement. She spoke about the
unique nature of Alaska.
CHIEF DUTRA replied that the policies differed from the
procedures. The policies are objective and consistent. The
procedures can vary from community to community.
1:46:06 PM
CHIEF DUTRA moved to slide 6, "Project Phases."
The Policy Project is the first step in a multi-year
project that will:
1. Create a Statewide police policy manual.
2. Start the implementation phase.
3. Training phase.
4. Accreditation phase (optional)
5. Ongoing monthly training and updates.
1:47:58 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN asked about the proposed multi-year project
and its timeline. Audio difficulties observed during
transcription, Chair Claman offered technical solutions to
the audio issue.
CHIEF DUTRA replied that he would report back to the
legislature about the project timeline.
CHIEF DUTRA moved to slide 7, "Proven Results." He
explained that the data were taken from Lexipol.
Pre and Post-implementation Comparison:
After implementing Lexipol, member law enforcement
agencies experienced a 48 percent reduction in
severity of claims paid out and 45 percent reduction
in frequency of litigated claims. Agencies that
implemented Lexipol also had no personnel or
employment claims in the 5-year study period.
Lexipol vs Non-Lexipol Agency Comparison
Member law enforcement agencies using Lexipols
policies and daily training incurred 67 percent lower
costs and had 37 percent fewer claims than those that
did not.
1:49:34 PM
CHIEF DUTRA moved to slide 8 depicting snapshots of lawsuit
news articles related to paid settlements. He highlighted
the significant settlements, which he opined could be
prevented with good policies.
1:50:14 PM
CHIEF DUTRA continued with slide 9, "Why State Money."
• Initial policy draft costs too much for any one
group to bear.
• Small villages, towns and cities can't afford the
steep costs for startup.
• Policy benefits ALL Alaskans and those who visit
us.
• Inexpensive way to help maintain policing
standards across the entire state.
o Cannot affect policing on such a grand scale
as something of this magnitude.
1:51:51 PM
CHIEF DUTRA MOVED TO SLIDE 10, "Agencies using policy
services." The graph depicted various agencies using policy
services from Lexipol. Standardized policies provide
consistency among different state agencies.
1:52:27 PM
CHIEF DUTRA continued with slide 11, "Example Cost
Breakdown." The spreadsheet lists anticipated costs broken
down by Alaska agencies. Prices increase with the number of
sworn officers in an agency. Funding from the legislature
will reduce program implementation and policy manual
development costs.
1:53:38 PM
SENATOR TOBIN asked about the ongoing subscription cost.
She assumed that the policy manual is routinely revised and
updated.
CHIEF DUTRA concurred that the policy manual will be
updated monthly with national standards.
CHAIR CLAMAN queried the policy manual price shown in slide
11. He wondered if the amount depicted in the column titled
Pricing Manual Only included the subscription price
allocated to each department after the state provided
capital funding of $550 thousand for development of the
original policy manual.
CHIEF DUTRA replied yes.
CHAIR CLAMAN referred to slide 11 assuming that the column
titled, List Price for Full Implementation (Manual
Development) showed the department share with full
implementation, while the column listed, Pricing Manual
Only displays the annual fee.
CHIEF DUTRA replied that the estimates will be revised with
the approval of legislative funding.
1:55:07 PM
CHIEF DUTRA moved to slide 12, "How Much is This Going to
Cost."
Legislative request = $550,000.00
Estimate for project completion = $1,250,000.00
approx.
Future Legislative costs = $0
All active participants will bear the cost of
participating based on size of community.
(Project estimates based on 70% participation)
1:56:13 PM
SENATOR KAUFMAN asked about slide 11 and the agencies
listed. He wondered what percentage of Alaska law
enforcement was represented on the slides first column. He
asked about communities absent from the list.
1:56:56 PM
CHIEF DUTRA responded that Juneau and Anchorage are not
listed on slide 11s agency name column. He acknowledged
that some communities were omitted with the cut and paste
slide preparation as the document was too long for the
presentation slide. He expected many of the small and
medium-sized agencies to elect to participate. He remarked
that agency participation was optional. He assumed that the
Department of Public Safety (DPS) would decline to
participate.
1:57:52 PM
SENATOR KAUFMAN asked for an inventory of the total
agencies interested. He requested a more accurate cost
breakdown.
CHAIR CLAMAN asked about coordination between the Alaska
Association of Chiefs of Police and DPS for development of
a policy manual. He mentioned that the Alaska Troopers
Academy provides training for the smaller agencies. He
suggested coordination between the state agency and
Alaska's law enforcement management.
1:59:00 PM
CHIEF DUTRA agreed with Senator Claman. He reported
speaking with the DPS commissioner who expressed support
for the project. He hoped that the department would
contribute a position to a project working group.
CHAIR CLAMAN appreciated the presentation. He believed it
brought valuable information to the committee as it
involves a capital budget request.
1:59:52 PM
There being no further business to come before the
committee, Chair Claman adjourned the Senate Judiciary
Standing Committee meeting at 1:59 PM.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska Police Policy Project Presentation to Senate Judiciary 2.23.2023.pdf |
SJUD 2/22/2023 1:30:00 PM |