Criminals Hired As Police Officers In Alaska

[left-of-center2012]

Criminals convicted of assault, domestic violence and theft have been finding work as police officers in Alaska, according to an investigation by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica.

"It's a small part of a serious problem," Anchorage Daily News reporter Kyle Hopkins told NPR on Monday. He described the situation as "a two-tiered justice system in which people in Alaska's most remote communities do not enjoy the same level of protection and public safety services as those of us who live in the cities."

Just in the small western village of Stebbins, Hopkins reported with a team last week, every police officer pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges within the last 10 years. The seven officers had served time in jails, prisons or halfway houses, according to the newspaper. Only one officer had ever received any kind of formal law enforcement training.

The reporting focused mainly on village and tribal police officers. Hopkins told NPR the problem stems not just from a lack of funding and a shortage of people who want to work as officers, but a broken regulatory and background check process.

Last month, Gov. Mike Dunleavy, R-Alaska, vetoed millions of dollars for the Village Public Safety Officer program, which started in the 1970s in the state as a way to help rural communities by training and employing locals.

Karina Borger, a spokesperson for Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told NPR that the senator hasn't yet commented on the article ... Mike Anderson, a spokesperson for Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said he would not be able to send NPR a comment by the time this story was filed.

https://www.npr.org/2019/07/22/744084063/a-small-part-of-a-serious-problem-criminals-hired-as-police-officers-in-alaska

[malaise]

1. Well

Look who is president!

[MosheFeingold]

2. Look closer to home on that one

I sincerely doubt Trump (or Bush or Obama or Clinton or Bush or Reagan or Carter or Nixon or Kennedy) had a darn thing to do with this.

This is a purely local issue.

[malaise]

5. Of course you're correct on that

but I made a bigger point.

[marble falls]

7. Its a national issue for Pete's sake. Its only a coincidence so many cops ...

LOVE Trump????

[superpatriotman]

3. A Clockwork Orange

IRL

[Ohiogal]

4. As an aside.......

This only underscores the importance of our local newspapers and investigative journalism, since the story was broken with the aid of the Anchorage Daily News.

[marble falls]

6. Domestic violence is a dirty little secret in almost every single PD in the US.

[zackymilly]

8. Domestic violence by cops is not an Alaska problem. This is a nationwide problem.

Performance Evaluations Not Affected; Violent Officers Often Promoted

The study of the Los Angeles Police Department further examined the 91 cases in which an allegation of domestic violence was sustained against an officer.

Over three-fourths of the time, this sustained allegation was not mentioned in the officer's performance evaluation.
Twenty-six of these officers (29%) were promoted, including six who were promoted within two years of the incident.

http://womenandpolicing.com/violencefs.asp