ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica report that at least 14 cities in Alaska have employed police officers whose criminal records should have prevented them from being hired under state law.
The news organizations reported Saturday that they found more than 34 officers who should have been ineligible for these jobs. They say that In all but three cases, the police hires were never reported by the city governments to the state’s Department of Public Safety, as required.
The news organizations report that in eight additional communities, local tribal governments have hired tribal police officers convicted of domestic violence or sex crimes.
The news organizations say that all 42 of these tribal and city police officers have rap sheets that would prevent them from being hired by the Anchorage Police Department and its urban peers, as Alaska state troopers or even as private security guards most anywhere else in the United States. Many remain on the job.