our history

the story of the anchorage police department

Anchorage had a modest beginning as a tent city on the banks of Ship Creek which was originally called Ship Creek Landing. Law enforcement for the Alaska Territory had been in the hands of the United States Marshals. On November 23, 1920, Anchorage was incorporated as a first-class city. Alaska did not become the 49th state of America until January 3, 1959.

First Chief of Police
Due to an appointment by the city council, John J. Sturgus began as Chief of Police on January 1, 1921, at a salary of $200 a month ($2,900 in today’s dollars). He was a one-man police department until his death just six weeks later. He was shot and killed with his own gun on February 20th. The city council voted to offer a $1,000 reward for the suspect’s capture. The mayor pledged an additional $250, and all other council members and clerks pledged $100 each, bringing the total reward to $1,950 (equivalent to over $28,300 today). No arrests were ever made.

First Patrol Car
Many men served as chief during Anchorage's violent territorial years. In 1926, the council began hiring night watchmen during the long winter months of October through March. Their duties included doing security checks on businesses and stoking the fires that heated the stores during the winter months.  On June 19, 1935, the council received a petition signed by seven property owners to provide a 24-hour police force. The Department operated on foot while occasionally borrowing a citizen's car and using taxis until the city decided to purchase a vehicle. In August 1930, APD became the proud owner of a used Ford bought for $63.75. Eleven years later the council voted to purchase the Department's first brand new police car, a 1941 Dodge 4-door sedan equipped with both a siren and a spotlight, for $1,401.80.  

First Female Police Officer
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the military began building bases which caused the population of Anchorage to jump from 4,229 in 1939 to 30,060 in 1950. In mid-1946 the police department hired its first officially titled “policewoman,” Sally Miller, a former registered nurse. Her duties included handling cases involving women and children, providing first aid and nursing services in emergencies, working the desk at headquarters, and buying and serving three meals a day to prisoners.