Public Safety
RSSPublic safety in Alaska is the network of law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services that protect the state's communities. It covers Alaska State Troopers, municipal and village police, fire departments and village public safety officers.
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Week of Aug 3
A viral claim about a Zuckerberg yacht and a Coast Guard call remains unverified
An unverified viral claim says a Zuckerberg-linked yacht ignored a Coast Guard call for a stranded Southeast skiff. The Coast Guard hasn't confirmed any of it.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Bethel man arrested for DUI near Cooper Landing after a REDDI report
A driver reported swerving into oncoming traffic near Cooper Landing was arrested on a DUI charge Friday night, flagged through the state's REDDI line.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A fuel break cleared years ago helped keep the Grandview Fire out of Sterling
A fuel break cleared in 2019-20 helped keep the Grandview Fire out of Sterling — a case of wildfire prep paying off, with no injuries and no homes lost.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Troopers charge Glennallen woman after Richardson Highway drug stop
Alaska State Troopers charged Amanda Craig of Glennallen with drug possession after seizing cocaine from her vehicle during a Richardson Highway stop on July 17.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Four wildfires broke out on the North Slope within 17 minutes Thursday
Four wildfires broke out on Alaska's North Slope within 17 minutes Thursday, across 40 miles of tundra, the kind of lightning-driven cluster expected to grow as the Arctic warms.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Troopers: Fairbanks man, 79, injured in Old Nenana Highway motorcycle crash
A 79-year-old Fairbanks man was injured Wednesday in a motorcycle crash on Old Nenana Highway and taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Bears have made Cordova's landfill unsafe for workers, and the fence is stuck
Bears have made Cordova's landfill unsafe for workers, and the electrified fence meant to stop them is stalled after the city's engineer request drew zero responses.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Injured hiker rescued by boat along George Inlet near Ketchikan
A hiker injured in a fall near Ketchikan called for help Tuesday afternoon, and Alaska Wildlife Troopers and the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad reached him by boat and took him to a hospital.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
More from Public Safety
Troopers detain 49 people at one Wasilla house during a drug-warrant search
49 people, one Wasilla house, one very eventful drug warrant: an arrest on scene, a runner nabbed on a federal warrant, and more charges on the way.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Betting apps take bets in Alaska as a Senate panel weighs the fallout
Prediction-market apps are taking sports bets in Alaska, where betting isn't legal. How much you wanna bet that it sticks around?
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A 675-mile snowmachine patrol reached nine Interior villages
Tanana Chiefs Conference officers ran a 675-mile snowmachine patrol across nine Interior villages, part of a push to extend law enforcement to remote Alaska.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Troopers arrest nine on drug charges during Salmonfest in Ninilchik
Troopers arrested nine at Salmonfest, eight on felony drug distribution charges, though the dispatch names no one and gives no drug quantities.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom 
Troopers arrest three Fairbanks-area drivers on DUI charges
Fairbanks troopers arrested three impaired drivers over the weekend, all well over the limit — including one who blew 0.248 with cocaine allegedly in his truck.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Wasilla man cited for motorized vehicle use in Palmer Hay Flats refuge
A Wasilla man was cited for driving a motorized vehicle in Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge, where off-road use is restricted to permitted activities in specific seasons and terrain.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Anchorage is considering expanding its surveillance network. The privacy rules are still a draft.
Anchorage votes Tuesday on $1.4M for police, including a surveillance center that logs cars, faces and movement — paid for with seized cash and federal money that never reaches the public budget, in the rare state whose constitution promises a right to privacy.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
Flames at Fairbanks airport this week are a drill, not an emergency
Those flames and smoke at Fairbanks airport this week are a scheduled firefighting drill, Aug. 3-7 — timed with notice so no one mistakes them for wildfire.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Coming up
Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly Regional Emergency Services Advisory Committee
Mona Lisa Drexler Assembly Chambers, Juanita Helms Administration Center, 907 Terminal Street, Fairbanks, AK
Meeting
Public Safety Careers Event
Community event
Alaska Police Standards Council Meeting
Meeting
Basic Handgun Class
Class
Cordova City Council E911 Surcharge Implementation
Public notice
About Public Safety
Public safety in Alaska takes in the law enforcement, fire, emergency medical and rescue services that protect its communities. It includes the Alaska State Troopers, municipal police, village public safety officers, fire departments, and search and rescue by the Coast Guard and the Alaska Air National Guard.
Highway crashes and closures, searches for missing people and boaters, structure fires and rescues in remote villages recur across the state. Local governments decide on police funding, including state grants for units that target impaired driving and street racing, as well as rules for police surveillance and ambulance fees.
Public safety overlaps closely with crime, government and the courts. In rural Alaska, troopers and village public safety officers respond to emergencies in villages, while Coast Guard cutters patrol the Arctic and the Bering Sea.
More from Public Safety
Alaska and Canadian crews fight a wildfire across the border
Alaska and Canadian crews are fighting a 20- to 30-acre wildfire 3 miles south of the Alcan Highway, with no evacuations or highway impacts expected.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
A cabin fire spread into a small wildfire north of Fairbanks
A cabin fire near the Chatanika River north of Fairbanks spread into a quarter-acre wildfire Sunday. Smokejumpers worked to contain it and watched it overnight.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Week of Jul 27
As the world burns, Alaska stays cool — a regional weather quirk
As Spokane and Europe burn in record heat, Alaska stays cool and barely burning — a regional weather quirk. The Arctic overall still hit record-low ice.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A visiting angler was found dead in the Kenai River near Sterling
A 71-year-old Georgia man who came to fish the Kenai River was found dead near a Sterling boat ramp Friday. Troopers say nothing suspicious has been found.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Seattle man dies after fall from boat mast in Akutan
Man falls overboard out of Akutan, Troopers will investigate.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Every Craig and Klawock business checked failed an underage sting
Every bar and dispensary Alaska regulators checked in Craig and Klawock sold alcohol or marijuana to an underage decoy — a clean sweep, and seven infractions.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Kasilof man, 87, dies after Sterling Highway collision near Cohoe Loop
An 87-year-old Kasilof man has died after a two-vehicle crash on the Sterling Highway, days after he turned into the path of an oncoming minivan.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
A neighbor found the missing Butte woman walking near his home
A missing elderly Butte woman was found safe nine hours after she wandered off, spotted by a neighbor walking near his own property late Friday night.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Helicopter lifts stuck hiker off peak five miles southeast of Alyeska
A helicopter rescued a stranded hiker off a peak five miles southeast of Alyeska early July 28 after a nearly four-hour operation, with EMS treating him for minor injuries at Girdwood Airport.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Two Delta Junction residents killed when a septic trench caved in on them
Two Delta Junction residents, Paul Hebert, 68, and Jacquelyn Wilder, 71, were killed Thursday when a roughly 13-foot septic trench collapsed on them. The cause hasn't been determined.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
A fisherman found the stranded boaters before the Coast Guard could launch
A local fisherman found two overdue boaters stranded on a sandbar near Toksook Bay before the Coast Guard could even launch, a familiar story in Western Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
A $1.6 million grant to help Alaska burn on purpose, before wildfire does
A $1.6 million grant would build Alaska the fire-weather forecasting tool it lacks, so managers can safely burn off wildfire fuel before the wildfires arrive.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago1 min read
Anchorage police oversight proposal dies without a second
Anchorage's police oversight proposal, already stripped of any power to investigate, died Tuesday for lack of a second, leaving the city with no oversight body since 2024.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Some Sitka customers can't reach 911; call dispatch directly
Some Sitka phone customers can't reach 911 after a vehicle hit a utility line. Until it's fixed, call dispatch directly at 907-747-3245, staffed 24/7.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
NTSB: Bering Air crash that killed 10 was a chain of preventable failures
The NTSB found the Bering Air crash that killed 10 near Nome resulted from a chain of preventable failures — an overweight plane the company routinely flew heavy, severe icing, and a pilot overloaded in the final minutes.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
The smoke over Fairbanks is from a fire the state is choosing to let burn
The smoke over Fairbanks is from the Tatlanika Fire, which the state is monitoring rather than suppressing because no structures are threatened. It's grown to about 2,000 acres.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Six Kasilof dipnetters cited this month, all for failing to record catch
Six people got cited on Kasilof dipnet fisheries this month, none for taking too many fish, all for forgetting to write down what they caught. Bail runs $120.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Kodiak wants dispatch to sound tsunami sirens without waiting for a federal alert
Kodiak may let dispatchers sound tsunami sirens the moment they see the signs, without waiting for a federal alert — a change built for a coast where the wave can outrun the warning.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
An Ekwok safety officer was assaulted doing the job alone
An Ekwok village safety officer was assaulted at the clinic following up on a case — the risk of being the lone law enforcement in a remote village.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A tiny fire near Koyuk has smoldered under investigation for a month
A quarter-acre fire 51 miles northeast of Koyuk has been under investigation for over a month, with no cause identified and no threat to homes or subsistence areas reported.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
A North Pole dirt bike crash follows a fatal Fairbanks motorcycle wreck
A North Pole dirt bike rider walked away with minor injuries — the interior's second two-wheeled crash this month, after a Fairbanks motorcyclist was killed.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
K9 Jack retires at 5 after four years on Interior village patrols
K9 Jack is retiring at 5, early for a police dog, after four years and a long list of seizures across 39 Interior villages. A younger nose has the beat now.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Woman killed, two juveniles critically hurt in crash at Northern Lights and UAA Drive
A woman died and two juveniles were critically injured in a crash at East Northern Lights Boulevard and UAA Drive in Anchorage early Tuesday.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Motorcyclist dies after Parks Highway collision in Meadow Lakes
A motorcyclist died Monday night after colliding with a van on the Parks Highway at South Potter Road in Meadow Lakes, according to Alaska State Troopers.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
