A consultant hired by Anchorage's municipal attorney has nearly a dozen recommendations to improve police de-escalation and use of force policies, after officers fatally shot a local teenager last year.
Anchorage police shot and killed 16-year-old Easter Leafa after they responded to a domestic disturbance at her home. Leafa had reportedly threatened one of her sisters with a knife, and she had the knife on her when officers killed her. State prosecutors later deemed the shooting as legally justified.
The killing sparked outrage in Anchorage, and concerns over how the police department handles use of deadly force. Shortly after Leafa’s death, Mayor Suzanne LaFrance announced a series of reforms, including a third-party review of the shooting.
The review was completed in November by Christopher Darcy, a former Las Vegas police officer and now consultant on law enforcement. The city just released Darcy’s report to the public on Thursday.
Darcy said he couldn’t speak to the specifics of his report for legal reasons. But broadly, he said, he’s found that police departments across the country often tailor how they respond to critical incidents when they arrive on the scene, and he thinks they should be more proactive.
“We need to start at the very moment the call is received,” Darcy said. “So the tactics and the training and the subsequent policies that reinforce that and the accountability aspect is really all focused on the actions that are starting before we arrive.”
Anchorage’s municipal attorney declined to release Darcy’s full report, citing legal concerns, but requested he compile a separate public report citing his recommendations for training and policy changes.
In the report, Darcy listed 11 recommendations, ranging from better management of high-risk responses and incorporating less lethal options into use of force training to improving interactions with both diverse communities and witnesses of police shootings.
Municipal attorney Eva Gardner said in conversations she’s had with the police department, the recommendations seem doable.
“I was pleased when I spoke with the chief about these recommendations, some of them were things that were already in progress,” Gardner said.
As part of the reforms announced by LaFrance, Gardner said the city of Anchorage has also put out a bid for a third-party group to take a holistic look at APD.
“That is for the more comprehensive look, where we will bring in fresh eyes to look at all aspects of APD training, supervision, policy that relate to de-escalation, use of force and cultural awareness,” Gardner said.
The deadline for contractors to submit bids to the city is Feb. 13.
