At the Regular Assembly Meeting of July 21, the Assembly did not take action on AO 2026-62(S-1), a new version of the ordinance to establish a Public Safety Partnership Commission. Assembly Chair Anna Brawley and Assembly Member Kameron Perez-Verdia, the sponsors of this ordinance, released the following statement:
"On Tuesday, the proposed ordinance to create a Public Safety Partnership Commission (AO 2026-62) was not taken up by the Anchorage Assembly. While we are disappointed that the ordinance did not advance, we are grateful to everyone who contributed to this effort over the past year and a half.
We want to thank the police officers, firefighters, dispatchers, prosecutors, and other public safety professionals who shared their expertise, wrote letters, and testified. We are equally grateful to the victims and families who shared deeply personal experiences, community advocates seeking systems changes, and to the many organizations representing mental health, victim services, neighborhoods, businesses, faith communities, and other community partners who engaged thoughtfully throughout this process.
We also appreciate the perspectives of those who opposed the ordinance. Although many believed a different approach was needed, their participation reflected a sincere commitment to improving public safety in Anchorage, and those perspectives strengthened the conversation and provided multiple options to consider in designing this commission.
Throughout this process, one thing became increasingly clear: the challenges facing public safety in Anchorage are complex. Building a safer community requires strong public safety agencies, meaningful community partnerships, transparency and accountability, effective responses to mental health and substance use, support for victims, violence prevention, and intentionally building and sustaining public trust. No single policy or commission can accomplish those goals on its own.
From our perspective, the effort to create a commission focused on public safety was always intended to be about more than police oversight. It was about creating a place where community members, public safety professionals, service providers, and civic leaders could work together to better understand the challenges facing our city and help inform long-term solutions. Our pressing safety issues are complex, and the solutions don’t sit within one agency: interpersonal violence and impacts on families, drug use and distribution, vacant and abandoned buildings, bottlenecks and limitations of the criminal justice system, preparedness for disaster events like wildfires, and more. The community continues to call for the Muni to address them, wanting to better understand these problems and take action to solve them.
Currently we have few places to bring the community together to have these important conversations, and each has limitations: a monthly Assembly committee meeting, localized groups like community councils, and ad hoc convenings and town halls. A municipal commission on public safety is one way to intentionally create and maintain a dedicated space to engage in this dialogue. If this is not the answer, we must find other ways to meet our community’s need for improved public safety systems.
While this ordinance will not move forward, the larger work remains. We remain committed to working with our colleagues, public safety professionals, community organizations, and residents to strengthen public safety, build trust, and continue the important conversations that so many people helped begin.
To everyone who participated, thank you. Your time, your expertise, and your willingness to engage in difficult conversations have made this effort worthwhile, and they will continue to shape the work ahead."
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Contact
Anna Brawley, Assembly Chair
District 3, West Anchorage
anna.brawley@anchorageak.gov
Kameron Perez-Verdia, Assembly Member
District 3, West Anchorage
kameron.perez-verdia@anchorageak.gov