Personnel
RSSPersonnel in Alaska is the hiring, pay, staffing and retirement benefits of government workers. It covers city and borough council votes on wages, union contracts and pensions, plus state and federal staffing shortages and legislation for emergency dispatchers, firefighters and police.
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Numbers are stories in the last 30 days.
Photo: Will Buckner via Wikimedia Commons · Photo source · CC BY 2.0
Anchorage police graduate a third big class as APD works to refill its ranks
Twenty-two recruits graduated from the Anchorage Police Department's academy Tuesday, the department's third class of 20 or more in a year. They now start field training, where they get hands-on experience before they can work as solo officers.
The three classes graduated 23, 20 and 22 recruits. Between mid-2023 and mid-2025, APD's announced graduating classes ranged from nine to 16.
From 2021 through part of 2024, more officers left APD than it hired each year, according to a staffing study by the consulting firm Certus that APD posts as its staffing report. In 2021, 40 officers left and 15 were hired. In 2023, 52 left and 34 were hired. "Despite having made a significant number of hires in recent years, the APD struggles to maintain staffing levels," the December 2024 study said.
In October, the department told the Anchorage Assembly it had 416 authorized sworn positions and about 42 vacancies, with this class still in the academy and recruits from earlier classes still in field training. Dispatch was eight people short of its 63 positions.
APD spent more than $10 million on overtime in 2025. Its overtime budget for this year is $4.9 million. "The reason their overtime is so hot is because of their vacancies," the city's budget director, Ona Brouse, told an Assembly committee in July. In August, she said police overtime spending was improving year over year.
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Stories on what’s next
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Latest
November 2026
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South Tongass fire chief Steve Rydeen to retire Dec. 1, weeks after his station reopened
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by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago2 min read
Kodiak council tells staff to move ahead on plan to bring city pay up to market
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by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Bethel parks committee will discuss reorganizing jobs around a fitness center manager
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Anchorage teacher tells school board two behavior staff have quit since September
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North Pole council gives utility workers an hour of leave for each on-call day
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Bethel has 36 of 121 city jobs open, including most of its water and sewer haulers
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by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
LaFrance names business executive to Anchorage salary commission, reappoints another
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More from Personnel
October 2026
Sitka School Board extends Superintendent Deidre Jenson's contract through June 2029
Sitka's school board voted to keep Superintendent Deidre Jenson through June 2029, giving her a shot at beating Alaska's average three-year superintendent run.
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Most Kodiak city jobs start below market pay, consultant tells council
A consultant says most Kodiak city jobs start below market pay and half the staff has two years or less on the job. The council talks it over Wednesday.
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Kodiak council can offer interim manager Putney the job without interviews, attorney says
Kodiak's city attorney says the council can skip interviews and offer interim manager Tim Putney the permanent job, possibly as soon as Nov. 12.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
LaFrance names 11 to Anchorage boards and asks the Assembly to confirm them Nov. 4
Mayor Suzanne LaFrance named 11 people to seven Anchorage boards, asking the Assembly to confirm them Nov. 4. Five fill vacant seats, six incumbents return for terms through 2029.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Kodiak school board names Damon Hargraves superintendent on one-year contract
Kodiak's school board gave acting superintendent Damon Hargraves the job Monday on a one-year contract. He's the third person to lead the district this year.
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Bethel residents press for higher firefighter pay as union contract talks continue
Six Bethel residents asked the council to pay firefighters more, as union talks continue and the fire department prepares for staffing reductions.
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Darren Franz to succeed Betsy Lawer as First National Bank Alaska CEO in January
First National Bank Alaska picked Darren Franz to replace Betsy Lawer as CEO in January. Lawer stays as executive chair after growing the bank to $5.1 billion.
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North Pole council adopts 3% raise with 30-step pay scale
North Pole City Council voted 7-0 to give employees a 3 percent raise and expand the pay scale to 30 steps so senior workers advance instead of dropping back, taking effect Jan. 1, 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
About Personnel
Personnel in Alaska takes in the hiring, pay, staffing and retirement benefits of people who work for governments and public institutions. It includes city and borough decisions on wages, comp time and standby pay, union contracts and pensions, and the choice of city managers and school superintendents.
Councils, assemblies and school boards make most of these decisions, sometimes in closed sessions when a manager's job is at stake. Staffing shortages are a recurring question, from police, fire and utility jobs in towns such as Bethel and Kodiak to support workers at schools, hospitals and military bases. Pay studies, recruiting drives and union bargaining are common responses.
Retirement systems such as PERS and the Anchorage police and fire pension board set benefits for public workers, and legislators weigh bills that change retirement rules for groups such as emergency dispatchers. Personnel connects to the budget, public safety and government topics.
More from Personnel
North Pole council advances comp time for on-call utility workers
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September 2026
Kodiak school board accepts superintendent's resignation less than three months into his tenure
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Federal audit finds Eielson Air Force Base short hundreds of support workers, with one person left in housing
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North Pole council advances 3% pay raise for city employees
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Bethel Fire Department recruits nationally for a captain and firefighters
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August 2026
Three lawmakers get paid for late travel claims, and one filed most of them
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Anchorage opens contract talks with one of its unions
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Bristol Bay Native Corporation, pne of Alaska's largest companies, is remaking part of its top leadership
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The Assembly votes Tuesday on confirming a longtime trustee to run Anchorage's police and fire pension
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Kodiak moves to bump standby pay for police as staffing runs tight
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Alaska lost 15.8% of its federal civilian workers in two years, ISER economist reports
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Troopers and corrections officers recruit at the Mat-Su Job Center
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July 2026
Retired APD lieutenant elected to oversee police and fire pensions
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New perks for Anchorage firefighters and Teamsters head to the Assembly
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Bayside fire chief wants new career position but warns against a rushed hire
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April 2026
House committee hears bill to reclassify emergency dispatchers as first responders
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House committee hears bill to reclassify emergency dispatchers as first responders
A House bill would let emergency dispatchers retire after 20 years instead of 30 by reclassifying them as first responders with police and firefighter benefits.
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