ALASKA STATE TROOPERS

The 'Alaska State Troopers' are the state police force for the State of Alaska, a division of the Alaska Department of Public Safety. The Troopers have 350 sworn personnel and 190 civilian employees, stationed throughout the state.

Contents

History

Duties

Village Public Safety Officer

Academy

See also

External links

History

The Troopers trace their heritage back more than a century, but there was no Alaska-wide police force until 1941, when the Territorial Legislature created the 'Alaska Highway Patrol'. This force went through a series of name changes, becoming the 'Alaska Territorial Police' in 1953, the 'Alaska State Police' after statehood in 1959, and the Alaska State Troopers in 1967.
Before the founding of the Troopers, law enforcement in Alaska was performed by a succession of federal agencies: first the U.S. Army, then the U.S. Navy and Revenue Cutter Service, and finally the U.S. Marshals Service after a civil government was formed in 1884.

Duties

While most state police organizations are primarily charged with traffic and highway patrol duties, due to Alaska's unique characteristics of limited access and lack of local government in much of the state, Alaska State Troopers are responsible for enforcing all criminal and traffic laws throughout the state, making them by default the primary law enforcement agency for many of Alaska's residents.
The Alaska State Troopers also manage the Village Public Safety Officer program, which provides some presence to remote villages too small for a trooper post, carry out wildlife protection through the Bureau of Wildlife Enforcement, perform search and rescue of missing persons, and carry out services usually performed by county sheriff's departments in other states, such as prisoner transport.

Village Public Safety Officer

The Village Public Safety Officer Program began in the late 1970s as a means of providing rural Alaskan communities with needed public safety services at the local level. The program was created to reduce the loss of life due to fires, drowning, lost person, and the lack of immediate emergency medical assistance in rural communities. The Village Public Safety Officer Program was designed to train and employ individuals residing in the village as first responders to public safety emergencies such as search and rescue, fire protection, emergency medical assistance, crime prevention and basic law enforcement.

Academy

Main articles: Alaska State Trooper Academy

The Alaska State Trooper Academy is located in Sitka, Alaska and trains Alaska State Troopers as well as other types of law enforcement personnel.
The academy is technically known as the Alaska Department of Public Safety Training Academy (also the DPS Academy). The academy staff trains state troopers, municipal police officers, state park rangers, fire marshals, U.S. Coast Guard SP's and Village Public Safety Officers.
The academy offers two Alaska Law Enforcement Training (ALET) courses a year. This 15 week program gives state troopers and municipal officers the basic academy certificate required by the Alaska Police Standards Council.
The academy officially opened its doors in October 1974. Several additions to the training facility have been made since. A new wing with dorm rooms, weight training facility and multipurpose room was added in 2001. A firearms training range was built in cooperation with the City and Borough of Sitka about seven miles from the academy's main facility. This range boasts a classroom among other features and opened officially in 2004.

See also

★ Alaska State Troopers Museum

★ List of law enforcement agencies in Alaska

External links

★ Official site