Mayor Bronson appoints Deputy Chief Michael Kerle to be Anchorage chief of police

The mayor has appointed Anchorage Police Department Deputy Chief Michael Kerle to be the city’s next chief of police.

Police Chief Ken McCoy said last week that he will retire in February. Mayor Dave Bronson announced Kerle’s appointment at Tuesday’s Anchorage Assembly meeting.

Bronson said Kerle will take over the department on Feb. 2. McCoy’s retirement is effective Feb. 1. The Anchorage Assembly still must vote to approve Kerle’s appointment.

“I’m confident in his ability to lead the Anchorage Police Department,” Bronson said.

Kerle on Wednesday declined an interview request and has not commented on the appointment.

He has been with the department since his recruitment in 1996 and has held the position of deputy chief since February 2020, according to the Anchorage police website.

Kerle was born and raised in Massachusetts and was a commissioned officer in the Army before he moved to Alaska in 1995.

Over the course of his 20-plus-year career at APD, he has held positions in the Patrol Division, Special Operations and Crime Suppression.

Kerle will follow McCoy’s short tenure in the chief position. McCoy became the city’s first Black chief of police when he was appointed acting chief in April 2021 by former Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson. He was later appointed by Bronson to serve in the position permanently.

[Abrupt retirement of Anchorage’s first Black police chief is a loss for the city, community leaders say]

McCoy’s sudden departure from the department — just a few months after taking the position — came as a shock to many in the city, including to leaders in communities of color who supported his appointment.