HB 293-BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR POLICE & TRAINING    3:10:17 PM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 293, "An Act relating to powers of the Alaska Police Standards Council; and relating to background checks for admission to police training programs and certification as a police officer." 3:11:22 PM ROBERT GRIFFITHS, Executive Director, Alaska Police Standards Council (APSC), Department of Public Safety (DPS), on behalf of the House Rules Committee, sponsor of HB 293, offered responses to questions posed during the 1/30/18 House State Affairs Standing Committee meeting. He referred to his 1/31/18 letter to the chair and pointed out a chart and associated graph, entitled "Alaska Police Officers Per Agency as of July 1," demonstrating the trends in the numbers of law enforcement officers [from 2013 through 2017]. He mentioned that while the number of law enforcement officers increased overall, that increase was almost exclusively due to the increase in the size of the Anchorage Police Department (APD). He offered that removing APD from the numbers reveals a loss of 42 officers. MR. GRIFFITHS referred to the question regarding the number of village police officers (VPOs) in Alaska and responded that APSC has record of 11 VPOs; the APSC knows there are many more who are not reported to the council; and presumably background checks are not performed for those officers. MR. GRIFFITHS referred to the third question from the committee: "Could a statutory change empower a municipality with the authority to send fingerprints directly to DPS for a criminal history background check?" He stated that under Title 29, the municipalities already have that authority; however, the issue is whether they have the resources to comply with state statute for obtaining access to the information. He pointed out the required steps on page 2 of the letter, under paragraph (3). He relayed that for a small town, the task is daunting and costly. He maintained that the proposal under HB 293 is to allow APSC to facilitate the fingerprint-based background checks for these agencies. HB 293-BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR POLICE & TRAINING    3:33:10 PM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that as the final order of business, the committee would once again consider HB 293, "An Act relating to powers of the Alaska Police Standards Council; and relating to background checks for admission to police training programs and certification as a police officer." 3:33:45 PM REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH, referring to the 1/31/18 letter from Mr. Griffiths, included in the committee packet, thanked him for his complete and thorough responses to the questions. 3:34:11 PM REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP asked for clarification on what services APSC provides. 3:34:38 PM MR. GRIFFITHS explained that APSC: facilitates training; regulates training; sets standards for training; certifies trainers; and certifies training programs. He said that when funding allows, APSC either sponsors training events or provides funds for officers to attend. He relayed that APSC sets standards, pursuant to the statutes, for the minimum qualifications for police officers, correctional officers, municipal correctional officers; and probation and parole officers. He maintained that all these groups have standards based on APSC requirements. In every one of those categories of officers, the applicant must pass a fingerprint-based background check to verify identity and to ensure there is no disqualifying criminal convictions on his/her record. He added that those disqualifiers are in regulation; for example, a felony conviction in the past ten years would preclude one from certification. REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP asked Mr. Griffiths to comment on his reference to APSC's involvement with trainee recruitment. MR. GRIFFITHS responded that APSC supports recruitment of VPOs and all police officers as part of its mission: all officer vacancies are routinely posted on its website; APSC staff assist with out-of-state inquiries for those positions; and APSC tries to educate the officials of small communities about the process of recruiting and vetting officer candidates. REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP asked whether HB 293 would mandate fingerprint and background checks for officer candidates. MR. GRIFFITHS responded that APSC currently regards fingerprint background checks of officer candidates to be a mandate; however, there is lack of compliance with the regulation. He said that under HB 293, the requirement for a fingerprint-based background check for certification would be in statute rather than regulation; it would be a mandate, but "no more real effect than we currently have." 3:39:04 PM REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP suggested that for a community with VPOs, under the proposed legislation, if it chooses not to background check officers, it could be left with no officers at all. MR. GRIFFITHS opined that the possibility of that happening would be no greater under the proposed legislation; villages are routinely recruiting, hiring, and retaining officers without certifying them and without notifying APSC; it is a risk they have chosen to take. 3:40:40 PM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS opened public testimony on HB 293. 3:41:01 PM WILLIAM MCKILLICAN, Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety, City of Hoonah, testified that he has been a police officer for 17 years in various positions and all over the state. He stated that the APSC has set, produced, and maintained the highest achievable standards of performance for the state's law enforcement professionals. It determines certification and training eligibilities and in some cases revokes certifications because of misconduct. It develops, monitors, and revises training and training requirements and continually monitors compliance with current regulation and legislation. He said that APSC has assisted agencies across Alaska with obtaining pre-employment polygraphs and psychological testing for officer candidates; it has funded specialized and advanced training for departments; and it has assisted academies and departments with funding to meet basic training requirements. MR. MCKILLICAN continued by saying that in Hoonah, a rural community off the road system with just over 800 permanent residents, there is not an officer employed, past or present, who has not benefited in some way from what APSC offers. He said that more importantly, it is the state's citizens who see the most benefit of producing some of the finest law enforcement professionals in the nation. MR. MCKILLICAN stated that the state's budget shortfalls have had a grave impact on the small communities of Alaska; he has seen local funding resources dwindle to the point where he has been forced to reduce staffing and service levels; and just being able to maintain the department's necessary equipment and vehicles has been a leadership challenge. He offered that with these challenges, there has been no reduction in state standards and requirements for the law enforcement agencies. Like all law enforcement agencies, the Hoonah Department of Public Safety (DPS) is required to maintain access to and clearance for the Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN) and the National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) to access information such as criminal history, driving history, wants and warrants, and to submit fingerprints for prospective officer background checks. He maintained that these systems provide critical information to assist in investigations, alerts for dangerous weather in the field, and information for background checks on potential officers. 3:44:42 PM MR. MCKILLICAN relayed that for agencies in medium or large cities and communities, these tasks do not present the challenges that they present for small communities like Hoonah. He said that annual fees, computers, software, network connectivity, monthly reporting requirements, and internet connections force him to make decisions that increase risk and liability. Because of reduced staffing levels and retention challenges, maintaining these systems in Hoonah has been difficult; sending staff out of town to fulfill training requirements to assume terminal agency coordinator (TAC) duties and responsibilities is an additional, burdensome expense. He reported that last year the Hoonah DPS experienced the loss not only of its TAC, but its APSIN coordinator as well. For many years the experience and knowledge of the coordinator kept the system running, and for the past 12 months, the department has struggled to replace the [TAC] and provide the necessary training for staff to maintain the APSIN and NCIC standards. MR. MCKILLICAN relayed that APSC provides standards on vetting potential officer hires and recruits who pay their own ways to the academies. He stated that he believes that APSC should be granted access to APSIN and NCIC systems to conduct background checks and to ensure the state maintains the highest, yet achievable, standards. The ability for agencies to be able to rely on APSC for assistance for these functions would be an enormous benefit to agencies like Hoonah. He said that as chief of police in a rural community, he strongly supports the legislation; it would allow APSC to provide critical support to rural justice initiatives and the governor's public safety action plan. 3:47:09 PM REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH referred to the chart from the 1/31/18 letter and asked for confirmation that Hoonah has an APSC certified staff of four down from the 2015 level of five. MR. MCKILLICAN said, "That is correct." REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked whether Hoonah could take and transfer fingerprints using an iPhone. MR. MCKILLICAN answered that his department can take fingerprints currently; it has always met the standard put forth by the state and by APSC. He said that his greatest challenge at this point is the choice he must make for the next hire - whether to meet the requirements under the proposed legislation or to have the department take on the liability and not report to APSC. He maintained that the latter is the last thing that he wants to do. 3:49:57 PM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS closed public testimony on HB 293. CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced HB 293 would be held over.