Alaska News

Newly vacant DPS deputy commissioner spot to be filled by Valdez police chief

The governor's office confirmed Wednesday that deputy commissioner of the Department of Public Safety Terry Vrabec no longer works for the state.

Gov. Bill Walker's press secretary Katie Marquette declined to offer specifics about Vrabec's departure, stating it was a personnel matter. The deputy commissioner's page on the DPS website changed Wednesday evening, listing Vrabec's former position as "vacant."

Valdez Police Department Chief William Comer will replace Vrabec, Marquette said.

Vrabec became deputy commissioner in June 2011 under then-Gov. Sean Parnell and had continued to serve under under Gov. Walker. He spent six years as director of the Alaska Police Standards Council, which decides behind closed doors whether certain Alaska law enforcement officers lose their right to wear a badge.

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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