Duties
The Division of Alaska State Troopers personnel are the general police arm of the agency. They are charged with statewide law enforcement, prevention of crime, pursuit and apprehension of offenders, service of civil and criminal process, prisoner transportation, central communications, and search and rescue. They perform traditional duties most associative with state police in lower-48 states.
The Division is divided into five detachments for general policing and specific bureaus. Detachments A, B, C, D, and E, and Alaska Bureau of Investigation (ABI), Alaska State Fire Marshal Office, Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement (ABADE), Alaska Bureau of Highway Patrol, and Alaska Bureau of Judicial Services. Each Detachment is charged with Division responsibilities within a specific geographic area. Each Bureau is responsible for the statewide discharge of their specific duties and overall responsibilities. Both Detachments and Bureaus are responsible for ensuring efforts are made towards meeting the Division's core missions as it relates to their respective enforcement programs, public education, training, fiscal planning and implementation.
The Highway Patrol Bureau functions much like highway patrol agencies of the lower-48 states, with emphasis on major and fatal traffic collisions, speed enforcement, DUI enforcement and preventative traffic patrol and enforcement, especially on areas like the Parks Highway near Denali National Park. These Troopers receive specialized training in DUI enforcement, traffic collision investigation, reconstruction and speed enforcement.
ABI provides specialized investigative support to smaller agencies requesting help in cases and it provides detective services to all areas not served by local police. ABI investigators are specially selected and trained investigators who also assist in federal cases and receive specialized investigative and technical instruction throughout their careers.
State Fire Marshal personnel are referred to as deputy fire marshals. These deputies have full police powers. They investigate cause and origin of major fires involving significant monetary loss, loss of critical buildings or any suspicious fire that results in death or serious injury. They also assist local agencies and authorities in fire cause and origin investigations. They also investigate explosions and often work with the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). They receive specialized training from facilities such as the US Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, MD.
ABADE personnel are assigned to investigate drug and vice offenses, such as drug manufacturing, smuggling, illegal gambling, prostitution, child sex exploitation and human trafficking. They often work on task forces and in undercover assignments throughout the state. They also work with local agencies and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), US Customs Service and US Postal Inspectors in mail smuggling cases, notably in rural areas.
Judicial Services Bureau officers are peace officers who perform duties traditionally associated with "bailiffs" in the lower-48 sheriff agencies: court security and control of prisoners awaiting trial, along with enforcing the orders of the judge in the courtroom.
The State Scientific Crime Detection Lab: The lab, located in Anchorage is fully equipped to provide support and analysis of DNA, blood drug and alcohol blood and breath test screening, fingerprint examination, foot and tire impression analysis, firearm analysis, tool mark analysis, drug exam, fire and explosion trace evidence analysis, UV exam and technology analytical services. The lab serves all of Alaska with certified, highly trained technicians and forensic examiners. AK DPS crime lab personnel are considered among the most proficient examiners in the world to examine. They provide investigative training to police on these techniques.
DPS Academy: The academy in Sitka, located across from the now-closed Sheldon-Jackson College is the main police training academy of the state. With the guidelines of the Alaska Police Standards Council (APSC), the academy trains trooper and DPS officers in basic training, in addition to also training local law enforcement officers. DPS trooper personnel remain at the academy for additional "trooper-specific" training once the basic Alaska Law Enforcement Training (ALET) class graduates. The academy is rigorous and paramilitary. The other public academy in the state is not a DPS affiliate but is APSC-approved. It is the TVC police academy located at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks campus. The City of Anchorage also has an internal ALET academy for its own officers and it occasionally offers in-service classes to other agency personnel. The DPS Academy instructors are given the rank and title of "corporal" the only place in the AST where this rank is used. This assignment can be a stepping stone to promotion and only the most elite of troopers are made training corporals, based on leadership, ability to train, fitness, aptitude, shooting ability and general appearance.
The Division of Wildlife Troopers is charged also with statewide law enforcement, the same as the State Trooper Division. These troopers perform duties most common with that of game wardens and wildlife conservation or marine patrol officers in the lower-48 states but also make arrests for any crimes. AWT Troopers enforce traffic laws and respond to calls for police services as needed. AWT Troopers are nicknamed "brown shirts" by Alaskans. The division has a rank structure of its own the same as the blue shirts from Trooper to Colonel. The AWT Troopers operate more in boats and aircraft and many troopers are pilots. AWT operates statewide. They have several large seagoing ships with civilian crews and sworn troopers on board for enforcement actions in commercial fishing enforcement and search and rescue. AWT has a core mission of protecting natural resources through hunting and fishing law enforcement. They also aggressively enforce boating safety laws and investigate boating accidents. AWT Troopers enforce federal laws by memorandums of Agreement (MOA) with the US government regarding endangered species. AWT regularly works with and assists federal law enforcement agency personnel such as US Marine Fisheries Service, US Coast Guard, US Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, US Park Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service in conservation law enforcement.
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