Anchorage Assembly members will vote on the city’s roughly $640 million budget Tuesday night. Among the proposed amendments to the budget is a contract with a national law enforcement watchdog group, with the goal of creating a form of citizen oversight of the city’s police department.
The proposed amendment would be for a $75,000 contract with NACOLE, the National Association of Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement.
Assembly member Anna Brawley was one of three members to introduce the amendment, and she said NACOLE has a lot of expertise when it comes to law enforcement oversight.
“They are not necessarily an advocacy group saying, ‘here's explicitly the model or the outcome that we want to see in your community,’” Brawley said. “They really do provide technical assistance. They worked with a lot of other communities.”
The Anchorage Police Department has been under scrutiny this year after a string of police shootings left five people dead and another three injured. Police Chief Sean Case said it’s the highest number he’s seen in a short period in his more-than-20-year tenure with the department.
The shootings have led to public outcry, and protests from groups like the Party for Socialism and Liberation Anchorage. Michael Patterson is a spokesman for the organization, and said his group has pushed for an independent citizen review board for APD for years.
“It's going to send a message to the community and families that have to go through this ordeal, that the city actually cares about you and cares enough that we have an independent authority to investigate this matter as well,” Patterson said. “And I think ultimately, we need it to restore public trust again.”
Patterson said PSL-Anchorage has reached out to NACOLE in the past for ideas for how to set up an Anchorage civilian oversight board. He said the group is the gold standard for getting communities together to determine how to create more accountable law enforcement.
“This is the municipality and APD’s opportunity, if amendment seven is adopted into the budget, to have a conversation that's facilitated by national experts and professionals,” Patterson said. “They don't need to be afraid of the conversation.”
Assembly members didn’t debate the amendment when it was introduced, and it’s unclear if it has enough support to pass. Several Assembly members were unavailable or did not respond to requests for comment.
Mayor Suzanne LaFrance opposes the amendment. She said her administration has already enacted two avenues of third-party oversight of APD. The first is an independent review of the fatal August shooting of 16-year-old Easter Leafa and the second is a third-party review of APD’s use of force policies and training.
“Both of those reviews will result in recommendations and further actions that we can implement,” LaFrance said. “APD, on its own, is also conducting its own use of force review too, and I expect that will yield recommendations as well.”
LaFrance said she’s in favor of more citizen input regarding the police department, but she said she doesn’t believe the NACOLE contract is the way to go.
“I'm certainly in favor of exploring the ways citizens can be engaged,” LaFrance said. “And in the past, you know, there's been the Public Safety Commission, and so that's one potential avenue.”
The Assembly will take up amendments and vote on the budget during its meeting on Tuesday night. LaFrance can veto any amendments passed by the Assembly, and the body needs eight votes to override a veto.
