Alaska officials say they’re working to speed up investigations of police shootings

Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor (left) and Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore speak to reporters successful Anchorage connected July 17, 2024. (Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)

State officials opportunity they’re moving to amended nan velocity of their investigations into constabulary shootings — arsenic public unit mounts for nan merchandise of assemblage camera footage of nan incidents.

So acold this year, officers person changeable 9 group during responses, sidesplitting six of them. Five of those shootings progressive Anchorage police. 

At a gathering pinch reporters Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore said nan merchandise of assemblage camera footage should travel aft an investigation by nan authorities Office of Special Prosecutions, successful bid to travel owed process. But he acknowledged that those authorities investigations are taking a agelong time. 

“I’ll beryllium nan first 1 to show you that I deliberation that our process of reviewing these cases has had immoderate problems,” Skidmore said. “There are cases that we’ve reviewed that it has taken america successful nan Department of Law acold excessively agelong to review.”

Right now, nan authorities is still reviewing 8 constabulary shootings, including 1 from November of past year, to find if usage of unit was justified. In immoderate cases, Skidmore said, they’re waiting connected ballistic and constabulary reports, arsenic good arsenic autopsies. 

To thief pinch nan delays, Skidmore said nan Office of Special Prosecutions has much than doubled its number of prosecutors from 3 to seven. It’s besides moving pinch rule enforcement agencies to get reports from them faster. 

“I would ever activity to talk pinch them first and to promote them to travel up pinch processes to thief them get accusation to america faster,” Skidmore said. “I deliberation that will work. I’m very optimistic astir that. But if it didn’t work, are location different things that tin beryllium done? Yes, location are.”

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Skidmore said nan authorities has investigated constabulary shootings since 2009, and has records from 2010 on. Since past location person been 148 constabulary shootings successful nan state, and Skidmore said zero of them person led to an serviceman being charged pinch a crime. That includes 2 of nan shootings this twelvemonth that near 2 men wounded: 22-year-old Kaleb Bourdukofsky successful Anchorage and 25-year-old Victor Jack successful Wasilla. 

“We person recovered officers are not discharging their firearms unless it was authorized by statute,” Skidmore said. “Now, that statute, that’s a beautiful wide authorization erstwhile they’re allowed to do that. I’m not making immoderate bones astir that; that is simply a wide authorization. But those are nan laws successful nan authorities of Alaska. And we haven’t recovered anyone to break them yet.”

Under authorities statute, deadly usage of unit is authorized for officers erstwhile they reasonably fishy a personification has committed a felony usage of unit against someone, is attempting to flight while equipped pinch a firearm, aliases mightiness “otherwise endanger life aliases inflict superior beingness wounded unless arrested without delay.”

Skidmore said while he understands disappointment organization members’ calls for transparency, that must beryllium balanced pinch protecting people’s individual owed process rights.