Anchorage police union ‘dismayed’ at city’s response to string of shootings

The president of Anchorage’s police employee union on Friday expressed disappointment at the response from city leaders after an officer shot and killed a 16-year-old girl this week, the latest in a string of shootings that’s prompted community alarm and fresh scrutiny of the department.

Mayor Suzanne LaFrance and Police Chief Sean Case announced a series of reforms Thursday after Easter Leafa was fatally shot Tuesday inside her family’s East Anchorage apartment as officers responded to a report of a domestic disturbance. Police said Leafa was holding a knife.

Leafa was the sixth person to be shot by police in the last three months. Three others died and two were wounded.

In a statement, Anchorage Police Department Employees Association President Darrell Evans said the union acknowledged “the pain Easter Leafa’s family is enduring” and noted that the fatal encounter placed “immeasurable weight” on officers at the department.

He also said he was “dismayed by what city leaders have said and implied over the past few days.”

“The investigation has only just begun, and the mayor is apologizing for the actions of an officer that has yet to describe and explain those actions,” Evans wrote.

The reforms announced Thursday include an outside investigation into Leafa’s death, a third-party examination of police department policies to identify ways to reduce police shootings, the establishment of a community advisory committee, and a review of all officer shootings over the last 15 years.

Police on Saturday identified the officer who fired the shots at Leafa as Alexander Roman. Police said he was hired in December 2017, police said.

In a statement Friday, responding to the Anchorage Police Department Employees Association’s statement, LaFrance said her job is to “make sure that APD has the resources and training it needs, and that Anchorage is a place where everyone can feel safe.”

“Our police force is full of dedicated men and women who are sworn to protect and serve the public,” LaFrance said. “APD officers work difficult jobs under intense pressure. I appreciate the hard work they do, and I know these tragedies affect them.”

LaFrance, during Thursday’s announcement, had said she was “heartbroken that we have lost such a young life in our community” and offered condolences to the family while saying that Leafa “deserved to be safe in our community, and you deserved so much more time with her.” Case acknowledged the community’s growing concern and said the department echoes that concern.

In his statement, Evans said leaders were “calling for action without knowing the facts” and said the early reaction “does not lend to good policymaking.”

“We have also heard the oversimplified statement that ‘six officer-involved shootings since May is far too many’ and how that somehow reflects a failure only upon the policing profession,” he wrote. “That level of oversimplification does nothing to acknowledge the weight of each of those incidents.”

Each shooting greatly affects the officers involved and places weight on the entire department, he wrote, describing the different circumstances of each. Evans said that in one of the police shootings, a man fired at police. During another, police found a man who had been shot and killed outside a downtown bar.

[An overview of Anchorage police shootings in 2024]

The employee association statement also describes a need for more support from city officials not only in the form of police training but also social services and other programs to address addiction and mental health issues in the community.

The union has asked the city for years to invest in police workforce and training, but even the “most well-trained professionals can’t change outcomes when the entire event was set up for failure from the start,” Evans wrote.

“We have for years called for more investment in our city’s social fabric,” the statement says. “Help get those who are addicted or suffering from mental illness into treatment. Help them recover and grow. Find new or additional professionals to help us support those most in need. Don’t let our social fabric wear so thin that police are left to singularly deal with all of society’s ills and failures.”

The union represents more than 500 employees at the police department.

In response to Leafa’s killing, several community events were organized. A vigil was held in honor of Leafa at the Delaney Park Strip on Friday afternoon. The Party for Socialism and Liberation Anchorage planned a protest at City Hall on Friday evening.

A Saturday march, organized by the Alaska Samoan Tribal Council, began at police headquarters downtown before moving to Town Square Park.