Twice-postponed $599,000 police crime center purchase returns Tuesday with only opposition filed

Three Anchorage residents have filed written testimony urging the Anchorage Assembly to reject a nearly $600,000 purchase for the Anchorage Police Department's Real Time Crime Center, arguing the city lacks enforceable privacy rules for the system it already runs.

The item is a cooperative purchase from ThunderCat Technology, LLC through OMNIA Partners contract #R250609, not to exceed $598,998.10, for a fully integrated audio-visual system: a video wall, an 86-inch conference display, video processing equipment and an air-gapped control network. Funding comes from the Federal/State Fine and Forfeiture Fund, not property taxes. The Assembly postponed action on Aug. 4 and again on Aug. 18, with no motion pending, and the memorandum returns Tuesday as unfinished business. Its public hearing is closed.

Kassandra Smith wrote that the purchase conflicts with the state constitution's privacy guarantee. "Have you done an ounce of research into this company you're buying from, who they will give the data to, how secure their databases are from rogue actors?" she wrote, and asked the Assembly to instead fund the police oversight body it declined to continue.

Katherine Sinclair wrote that restrictions "need to be in place before the RTCC is constructed so that they do not become an afterthought once a problem occurs," and pointed to Lower 48 cases of officers caught using similar software to stalk partners and exes. She named Assembly members Daniel Volland and Sydney Scout, who represent her North Anchorage district, as opposing the memorandum.

Tierice Coleman asked the Assembly to obtain the system's audit, access and retention records before authorizing any expansion, citing Anchorage Municipal Code Chapter 3.102. Coleman wrote that he has filed a public-records request covering system queries, authorized users and misuse investigations. "No resident should have to prove misuse of a government surveillance system while the records capable of proving or disproving it remain inaccessible," he wrote.

The submitted written testimony contains no supporting comment for the purchase. Police Chief Sean Case, who recommended the purchase, told the Assembly at an Aug. 21 work session that the contract buys no new surveillance capability. He said license plate reader data is held 14 days, fewer than 10 employees can search it, and he conducts quarterly reviews weighing benefits against privacy risks.

Also Tuesday, the Assembly holds a public hearing on AO 2026-108, which would write retention limits and Assembly approval of new surveillance tools into code. That hearing begins no earlier than 6 p.m. The ordinance would also replace the municipal surveillance chapter, restrict license plate readers, and add audit and enforcement provisions. McCormick, Volland and Scout sponsored it.