APSIN Felony Indicator

As part of a larger project to improve the quality of Alaska criminal history records, the Alaska Department of Public Safety in 1991 upgraded the Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN) to provide a felony indicator to indicate whether a criminal conviction was for a felony or misdemeanor. This report, intended for APSIN users, reviews how the felony indicator was established in APSIN, discusses record accuracy, and provides sample APSIN screens to familiarize users with the display location of the felony indicator. An appendix presents an overview of the criteria used in establishing the APSIN felony indicator, which were based on Felony Conviction: A White Paper (Rieger 1991) and approved by the Alaska Department of Law.Executive Overview / Defining an Alaskan Felony / APSIN User List and Dissemination Policy / APSIN Screens with Felony/Felon Indicators / Quick Overview of APSIN Felony/Felon Indicator

Brady Statute Data: Persons Who Are Unlawful Users of or Addicted to Any Controlled Substances

Currently, Alaska law enforcement agencies do not obtain data on four noncriminal categories prohibited by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 from obtaining firearms. This, the third of four reports on these categories, describes how persons who are unlawful users or addicted to any controlled substance can be identified within an Alaska context and discusses possible procedures, problems, and solutions associated with data collection. At this time there is no clear or cost-effective way to create and maintain a database for either addicts or controlled substance abusers with any accuracy. Records are not kept on addicts or controlled substance abusers, and even if they were, because of the right to privacy, access would be denied. However the Criminal Case Intake and Disposition form is currently used statewide by law enforcement personnel. It could be modified with little effort to capture information on some addiction/controlled substance abuse events for the purpose of Brady background checks.Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice. Grant No. 96-RU-RX-K026.Introduction / Identification and Tracking of Drug Addicts and Unlawful Users / Contribution Data to the Criminal History Repository / Treatment Providers and the Private Sector / Summar

Victim-Offender Mediation in Anchorage

A version of this paper was published as ""Victim-Offender Mediation in Alaska," Alaska Justice Forum 11(2): 1, 5–6 (Summer 1994).Victim-offender mediation programs provide an opportunity for victims to meet the offenders face-to-face in the presence of a trained mediator for the purpose of resolving the injury of the crime in some way. Mediation is offered as a diversion from the justice system which the offender may accept to avoid more formal adjudication. This paper describes a pilot victim-offender mediation program in Anchorage which involves juveniles accused of certain offenses and the victims of those crimes.Victim-Offender Mediation / Development / The Development of Victim-Offender Mediation in Anchorag

Policing the Arctic: The North Slope of Alaska

An abbreviated version of this paper, which excluded the NSBDPS employee survey results, was published as: Trostle, Lawrence C.; & Angell, John E. (1994). "Policing the Arctic: The North Slope of Alaska." Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 10(2): 95–108 (May 1994). (http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/104398629401000203). A related report with employee comments from the survey concerning Public Safety Officer (PSO) assignment lengths and rotation policies is available at https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/10007.Geographic size and lack of roads, among other factors, contribute to unique difficulties in providing effective law enforcement and public safety services to residents of the North Slope Borough of Alaska. Despite comprehensive plans laid in the mid-1970s, the North Slope Borough has not been successful in implementing a broad, multicultural community public safety organizational design. The more traditional professional law enforcement agency which has evolved is perceived by some people as having community and employee relations problems. This paper provides a brief history of law enforcement on the North Slope and presents selected data from a 1993 survey of employees of the North Slope Borough Department of Public Safety (NSBDPS). The data support a hypothesis that indigenous personnel with strong roots in a minority community will be more committed to the community police organization than would be employees without such roots.North Slope Borough Department of Public SafetyIntroduction / Traditional Justice Administration / Government / Department of Public Safety / North Slope Department of Public Safety Goals / Research Support for a Multicultural Community Social Control Operation / Conclusion / Reference

Brady Statute Data: Persons Who are Subject to a Court Order Restraining Them from Threatening or Committing Acts of Domestic Violence or Abuse

Currently, Alaska law enforcement agencies do not obtain data on four noncriminal categories prohibited by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 from obtaining firearms. This, the second of four reports on these categories, describes how persons subject to a domestic violence restraining order can be identified within an Alaska context and discusses possible procedures, problems, and solutions associated with data collection. The state is rapidly moving to the point where all individuals who meet the Brady definition for this category will be identified, the information housed in a separate database, and reported to federal agencies. AS 18.65.540 provides for a central registry of Domestic Violence Protective Orders, a product of the (state) Domestic Violence Prevention and Victim Protection Act of 1996.Bureau of Justice Statistics, United States Department of Justice Grant No. 96-RU-RX-K026Introduction / Background / Civil Protection Orders / Handgun Applications / New Policies / Conclusion / References / Appendix A: APSIN Screen

Brady Statute Data: Establishing Noncriminal Classifications for the Alaska Department of Public Safety

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 prohibits the purchase of firearms by persons in certain noncriminal categories. These reports describe potential data sources for the identification of mental committments, addicted substance abusers, illegal aliens, and persons who have been the subject of a domestic violence restraining order and discusses possible procedures, problems, and solutions associated with data collection for the purpose of Brady background checks. Lack of infrastructure for collecting certain types of data, incompleteness of information, and state constitutional protections, including the guarantee of privacy, are the chief obstacles to completely meeting the provisions of the Brady Act in Alaska.Bureau of Justice Statistics, United States Department of Justice Grant No. 96-RU-RX-K026Background / Needs and Benefits / Goals and Objectives / Project Design / Findings by Classification / Conclusio

Brady Statute Data: Adjudicated Mental Defectives and Involuntary Mental Commitments

Currently, Alaska law enforcement agencies do not obtain data on four noncriminal categories prohibited by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 from obtaining firearms. This, the first of four reports on these categories, describes how adjudicated mental defectives and involuntary mental commitments can be identified within an Alaska context and discusses possible procedures, problems, and solutions associated with data collection. The report discussed federal statutory definitions of the terms adjudicated as a mental defective, committed to a mental institution, and legal authority; compares these terms with those current in Alaska Statues and used by social service and mental health agencies in the state; and describes, in general, data held by federal, state, local, and private agencies in Alaska. At present, there is no clear or cost-effective way to create and maintain a database for either of the two categories with any accuracy: besides technical difficulties in getting different databases to "talk" to each other, records are not kept on mentally ill individuals, and even if they were, access would be prohibited in the face of federal and state laws regarding privacy.Bureau of Justice Statistics, United States Department of Justice Grant No. 96-RU-RX-K026Introduction / Adjudicated Mental Defectives / Involuntary Mental Commitments / References / Appendix A: Mental Health Commitments (Civil Commitments) / Appendix B: Forms USed in the Alaska Court System During the Involuntary Mental Commitment Proces

Brady Statute Data: Establishing Noncriminal Classifications for the Alaska Department of Public Safety—Executive Summary

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 prohibited the purchase of firearms by persons in certain noncriminal categories. This executive report summarizes study findings on potential data sources for the identification of mental committments, addicted substance abusers, noncitizens in the U.S. illegally or unlawfully, and persons who have been the subject of a domestic violence restraining order and briefly discusses possible procedures, problems, and solutions associated with data collection for the purpose of Brady background checks. Lack of infrastructure for collecting certain types of data, incompleteness of information, and state constitutional protections, including the guarantee of privacy, were the chief obstacles to completely meeting the provisions of the Brady Act in Alaska.Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S.Department of Justice. Grant No. 96-RU-RX-K026Background / Needs and Benefits / Goals and Objectives / Project Design / Findings by Classification / Conclusio

Brady Statute Data: Persons Who Are Illegally or Unlawfully in the United States

Currently, Alaska law enforcement agencies do not obtain data on four noncriminal categories prohibited by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 from obtaining firearms. This, the fourth of four reports on these categories, describes how undocumented immigrants who are unlawfully in the United States can be identified within an Alaska context and discusses possible procedures, problems, and solutions associated with data collection. It was found that the most feasibile means for obtaining information for the purposes of Brady background checks would be the Verification Information System (VIS) of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). However, project researchers received no response from INS to inquiries about requirements of access to VIS.Bureau of Justice Statistics, United States Department of Justice. Grant No. 96-RU-RX-K026.Introduction / Background / Definitions / INS Records Availability / Determining an Individual's Classification for Brady / Verification Process / Conclusion / Appendix A: U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Guide to Commonly Used Documents Used to Identify Persons Eligible for Benefits Under the Immigration and Naturalization Act / Appendix B: U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Statement of Intent to Obtain a Handgun(s

Alaska Criminal History Record Information: A White Paper

In their Statutory Recommendations submitted in 1989 to the Alaska Department of Public Safety, SEARCH Group, Inc. recommended that the Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN) be expanded to capture and report 18 additional events to improve Alaska criminal history record information (CHRI). This paper examines the viability of including the proposed 18 events in Alaska CHRI, and suggests a distributed data tracking system using the Arrest Tracking Number (ATN) to interface between APSIN and other Alaska justice system databases as the best and most economical means of improving Alaska CHRI. Appendices include the SEARCH report and other information bearing on CHRI standards.SEARCH Group's Recommendations / General Problems with Current Criminal History Record Information / Incorporation of the SEARCH Group's Recommendations / Remedies / Statutory Remedies / Conclusion / Appendice