Alaska News

State denies public records request for photos of vehicle theft suspects

The Department of Corrections has denied an Anchorage Daily News public records request asking for booking photos of the more than 400 people charged with vehicle theft in 2017.

The request, made May 11, is part of ongoing reporting by the Daily News on record property crime in Anchorage.

The state on June 18 cited the right to privacy of the car theft suspects in denying the request. Read the denial here. The Daily News has filed an appeal with Commissioner Dean Williams, arguing that state law does not specifically exempt the photos and that they are indeed public.

Department spokeswoman Megan Edge said the department had no comment on the matter  beyond the language of the initial denial, pending a response to the appeal, expected in early July.

Related property theft coverage:

[$45 million in property was stolen in Anchorage last year. This year is worse]

[How counterfeit cash, SB 91 & stolen guns fit into the Anchorage car theft epidemic: A Q&A with detectives]

[For many in Anchorage, getting a stolen car back means cleaning up a grotesque mess left behind] 

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins is special projects editor of the Anchorage Daily News. He was the lead reporter on the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Lawless" project and is part of an ongoing collaboration between the ADN and ProPublica's Local Reporting Network. He joined the ADN in 2004 and was also an editor and investigative reporter at KTUU-TV. Email khopkins@adn.com

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