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.