Public Safety
RSSAlaska News tracks public safety coverage including law enforcement operations, emergency response, regulatory enforcement.
Two missing after boat overturns near Bethel
Two people are missing after a boat overturned near Bethel on Tuesday afternoon. Search and rescue efforts are ongoing.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Anchorage delays surveillance rules as sponsors and mayor remain divided
Anchorage delayed its surveillance ordinance to Oct. 20. The crime center keeps operating under police policy while lawmakers reconcile rival rules.
by Alaska News1w ago2 min read
Kodiak Island Borough warns of wire transfer scam targeting zoning applicants
Scammers are posing as Kodiak zoning officials and demanding wire transfers. Nobody in history has ever been this eager to collect a permit fee.
by Alaska News1w ago1 min read
Alaska joins the EMS compact Sunday, with several steps still required
Alaska joins the EMS compact on Sunday, but nobody can just show up and start working. The state is not in the national database yet either.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Fairbanks woman, 68, fell from horse into Wood River and died; cause under investigation
Debra Waugaman Curnow, 68, of Fairbanks died Monday after falling from her horse while crossing the Wood River near Snow Mountain Gulch.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Park Service warns of ice collapse and tsunami waves at Aialik Glacier
National Park Service warns that unstable ice at Aialik Glacier terminus in Kenai Fjords can collapse without warning and trigger tsunami waves capable of causing severe injury or death.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Juneau aging commission chair asks Assembly to fix or cancel paratransit contract
Juneau seniors and wheelchair riders are missing paratransit pickups under Ground Transportation Solutions. The aging commission chair asked the Assembly to fix or cancel the contract before winter.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
APD's new drone notice leaves annual-report questions unanswered
APD disclosed a drone at Sunday's standoff, but the five-line notice leaves the warrant and footage questions missing from its annual report
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Anchorage police shoot carjacking suspect after East 37th Avenue standoff
Anchorage police say the man officers shot on East 37th Avenue had, hours earlier, pistol-whipped an older man unconscious and stolen his truck.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Search resumes on Kasilof River for man missing after boat overturns
A 67-year-old Kasilof man is missing after his boat overturned on the Kasilof River Sunday. The search resumed Monday by air, boat and on foot.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
South Anchorage council asks state and city for interim school-route safety projects
Fifteen pedestrians were killed on Alaska roads last year, the highest rate in a decade. One Anchorage council is asking for whatever can be done fast.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Anchorage police report eighth officer-involved shooting of 2026 in two sentences
An Anchorage officer was in a shooting on East 37th Avenue, and the department's entire account is two sentences that don't say whether anyone was hit.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Troopers airlift injured boater from Cosna River after capsizing en route to air ambulance
Alaska State Troopers airlifted an injured boater from the Cosna River on Sunday after the boat capsized while heading to an air ambulance pickup.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Troopers arrest Fairbanks driver on DUI charge after Steese Highway stop
DUI arrest in the north
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Mayor's substitute puts Anchorage's surveillance network before the Assembly Tuesday
Anchorage assembled cameras, drones, plate readers and commercial-data tools before writing enforceable rules for how police may use them.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago9 min read
Crews dig out buried hotspot near Tok home as Mukluk Fire hits 70% containment
Weeks after the Mukluk Fire, crews dug a still-smoldering log out of the ground near a Tok home, and fire managers expect more buried heat.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Soldotna man arrested on DUI and weapons charges after Ninilchik traffic stop
A Soldotna man was arrested after Alaska State Troopers found his green SUV near Ninilchik following REDDI calls and watched it speeding and swerving on the Sterling Highway.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Cantwell's volunteer EMS model is straining, Denali Borough officials say
Cantwell's volunteer EMS model is straining as recruiting falters, and Denali Borough officials are weighing whether taxes could fund year-round coverage.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min read
Craig council backs speed humps, ties removal to studded tire dates
Craig City Council voted to keep speed humps on Tanner Crab Court and Teenage Street, removing them each fall when the state lifts its studded tire ban.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min read
An Anchorage officer killed a woman downtown, by the department's account
An Anchorage officer shot and killed a woman at a downtown apartment Aug. 18. The account comes almost entirely from the police chief.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min read
Wind topples two dozen trees onto Tok's power lines, stalling fire recovery
Winds knocked more than two dozen trees onto Tok's power lines Wednesday, some outside the burn scar, cutting power and stalling the Mukluk Fire recovery.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Alaska has reviewed 22 police shootings since 2024 and charged no one
Alaska prosecutors have reviewed at least 22 police shootings since 2024 and charged no officer. The record clears the officer every time.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago3 min read
Troopers arrest Anchorage man after 85 mph pursuit ends in Wasilla crash
Alaska State Troopers arrested Luke Debaere, 23, after he fled a traffic stop on the Parks Highway and crashed into trees in Wasilla, reaching 85 mph through residential areas.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Ninth Circuit says tribal law cannot shield employees from federal civil rights suits
A federal appeals court ruled tribal governments cannot shield their own employees from civil rights lawsuits by writing immunity into tribal code.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read
Air Guard crew rescues two pilots in separate crashes near Palmer and Skwentna
An Alaska Air National Guard helicopter crew rescued two pilots from separate crashes near Palmer and Skwentna on Thursday, flying both to an Anchorage hospital.
by Alaska News2w ago1 min read
Troopers identify two Savoonga men dead after capsizing near St. Lawrence Island
Two Savoonga men died when their boat capsized off St. Lawrence Island. A 15-year-old survived by clinging to the overturned hull until a search crew found him.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
Anchorage police seek help finding Allison Wilson, 41, missing since Thursday morning
Anchorage police are asking for help finding Allison Wilson, 41, who didn't return from her shift Thursday. She drives a maroon Subaru with front-end damage.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Juneau aging commission to vote Sept. 15 on demanding paratransit fix or new contractor
Juneau's paratransit riders have gone ten months without service that meets the contract, the chair of the city's aging commission says.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Juneau driver, 33, dies in Hyer Road crash in Palmer
A Juneau driver died Thursday morning after his vehicle became airborne over the Hyer underpass in Palmer and struck a concrete support.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
A remote Alaska village's firefighting enterprise lands more federal work
A firefighting company owned by the remote village of Nulato landed more federal fire work — part of a tribal enterprise that's grown to 200-plus local jobs.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Troopers say Minto man, 18, died in accidental rifle discharge
Troopers say Minto man, 18, died in accidental rifle discharge
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Wasilla weighs $569,600 for round-the-clock Fire/EMS dispatch at MatCom
Wasilla City Council will vote Monday on a $569,600 budget amendment to add round-the-clock dual dispatchers at MatCom, funded entirely by the Mat-Su Borough.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
State clears three Anchorage officers in the fatal shooting of Emil McCord
State prosecutors cleared three Anchorage officers of criminal liability in the fatal shooting of Emil McCord, 112 days after it happened.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
A Jeep rolled in Nikiski with a 14-year-old inside and the driver was arrested
A Jeep rolled onto its side in Nikiski with a 14-year-old inside. Troopers arrested the driver for DUI, the third such arrest in the area this summer.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Alaska is adding a fingerprint background check to EMS licensing, starting in 2027
Alaska will require fingerprint background checks for EMS providers starting in 2027, as it joins a national compact letting EMTs work across state lines.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Coast Guard finds 15-year-old alive on capsized skiff off St. Lawrence Island; two dead
Coast Guard found a 15-year-old alive on a capsized skiff 4 miles east of St. Lawrence Island on Monday; two other boaters from the same vessel were recovered dead.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Minnesota hunter cited for wanton waste of a caribou near Sagwon
Minnesota hunter cited for leaving edible meat unsalvaged on a bull caribou near Sagwon and removing antlers before finishing the salvage.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
Anchorage Assembly has one meeting left before a transit safety deadline
Anchorage has one meeting left before a federal deadline to fix its transit safety plan. Assaults involving security staff rose by half last year.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Moose hunter flown off upper Chistochina River after medical emergency
A moose hunter with a medical emergency on the remote upper Chistochina River was flown out by helicopter Monday and handed to waiting medics, troopers said.
by Alaska News2w ago1 min read
Gunfire reports in Nondalton ended in an arrest on eight charges
Reports of gunfire in Nondalton brought troopers from King Salmon and ended with a 22-year-old man arrested on eight charges, including burglary and assault.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
