Anchorage police oversight proposal dies without a second

A proposal to give Anchorage a police oversight commission, one already stripped of any power to investigate, died Tuesday night without a single second.

Assembly Member Kameron Perez-Verdia moved the measure after the public hearing closed. Chair Anna Brawley asked twice whether anyone would second it. No one did, and the item died.

The city has had no public safety oversight body since the previous commission expired in January 2024. In that time, according to written testimony from advocate Amber Batts, Anchorage police have shot 18 people and 11 have died. Batts supported a commission but not this one, calling a body that cannot investigate, subpoena records or access more than the public already can "not oversight" but "a listening session."

The version that failed would have seated 14 members explicitly barred from conducting investigations, issuing subpoenas or affecting officer discipline. A six-month task force had recommended in December that any new commission hold investigatory and subpoena authority. Neither made it into the ordinance.

Not everyone wanted a commission at all. Residents including John and Kristina Oldfield urged the Assembly to reject it, arguing the police and fire departments, the mayor's administration and the Assembly already provide oversight, and that a new body would add cost and bureaucracy without filling a demonstrated gap. APD Sgt. Matthew Hall had argued active-duty officers should have a seat, citing transparency programs the department already runs.

For now the disagreement is moot. The ordinance is dead, and Anchorage enters its second year with no oversight commission of any kind.