Anchorage Assembly to vote Aug. 4 on $1.4 million in seizure and FBI money for police

The Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on more than $1.4 million for the Anchorage Police Department. All of it comes from seizure proceeds or a federal contribution. None of it comes from the general fund.

The largest item would spend $598,998 from the Federal/State Fine and Forfeiture Fund on a Real Time Crime Center audiovisual system from ThunderCat Technology, LLC. The system includes a 6-by-2 video wall, an 86-inch conference display, ceiling speakers, and an air-gapped control and video-streaming network. The purchase rides on an OMNIA Partners cooperative contract rather than a separate municipal bid. Police Chief Sean Case recommended it.

A second resolution would appropriate $419,000 in state and federal forfeiture proceeds for "allowable special operations related to crime investigations," booked as operating supplies.

A third would accept a $400,000 FBI restricted contribution to rehabilitate the Ted Smith Range and Jewel Lake Training Center, which the police department routinely makes available to outside law enforcement agencies. Reimbursements will be processed through invoicing as eligible work is completed. The agreement runs through July 31, 2046, and allows up to $25,000 a year after the first year. Annual reimbursements for Years 2 through 46 are "contingent upon future appropriations and the availability of FBI funding." The agreement "does not include any reporting requirements."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation argued in a January 2021 post that forfeiture-funded surveillance purchases skirt normal budget scrutiny. The Assembly takes up all three items Tuesday at 5 p.m.