Law Enforcement

GCI is alerting its customers that their financial information may have been compromised. The communications company said it discovered a former customer telephone service representative misused customer-supplied credit card or bank account payment information. David Morris with GCI said the company has identified every customer, about 400 people, who have had any form of contact with the former representative. Morris said although GCI sent letters to 400 customers, GCI believes fewer than 20 may have actually been affected.

Inmates have been perpetrating telephone scams from behind bars, and they’ve been hitting Alaska recently. “They're trying to trick you into giving a forwarding number, basically taking your number and forwarding it to another phone,” said Anchorage Police Detective Glen Klinkhart. The caller poses as a variety of workers, from the phone company to law enforcement. They ask you to dial either 72, 72# or 90#. Those number sequences activate call forwarding, transferring control of your phone to the person on the other end, which can lead to hundreds if not thousands of dollars in long-distance calls on your account.

It's been more than 5 weeks since James Koenig said he last saw daughter. Police say the investigation continues for 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, who disappeared from a Midtown coffee stand on February 1. Thursday afternoon, Koenig held a press conference, saying he's speaking up to keep Samantha's disappearance in the spotlight. “All I can do is stay focused on finding Samantha. Take it one day at a time,” said Koenig. Koenig's life has drastically changed since his daughter's abduction.

by Rebecca Palsha Wednesday, July 14, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Anchorage family got a big and potentially dangerous surprise Wednesday. Police confronted a thief who broke into their home, but the furry offender stood his ground, even when confronted by armed officers. The suspect, a young black bear, wasn't afraid of the police, their guns or the blaring sirens. Barbra Lopetrone found the intruder in her home on Upper Huffman Drive. "I heard this noise.

Gov. Sean Parnell has a new plan to toughen laws for cyber-crimes and conduct a statewide sweep of the sexual offender registry. He announed the reforms Friday morning, as he plans for what he hopes is another term in office. Parnell says he thinks there's widespread support in the Legislature to continue toughening laws -- but he'll only see those reforms beyond November if he can get re-elected. “I just want it known from Alaska that we intend to take down anybody preying upon our children through any means,” Parnell said.

The FBI says Israel Keyes, who has already admitted to three killings, said he had killed at least five additional people as the FBI seeks more information from the public on his activities following his Sunday death in an Anchorage Jail cell. According to an FBI statement released Monday, Keyes, who confessed to killing barista Samantha Koenig and Essex, Vt. couple Bill and Lorraine Currier, is believed to have committed numerous kidnappings and murders across the nation over the course of 11 years, from 2001 until his March arrest in Lufkin, Texas.

Anchorage police officer Jill Martin pulled her patrol car onto the sidewalk Wednesday when she saw a three-vehicle car crash on Bragaw Road, where one driver had turned right on a red light. About 10 passengers from the vehicles involved huddled around a mangled gray car. It's a typical day for an APD patrol officer, which Martin described at a job fair intended to recruit women for the state's police agencies. Martin has been in law enforcement for 17 years. She told visitors to the third annual Women in Law Enforcement Recruitment Fair, held at the University of Alaska Anchorage, that her job is rewarding and a normal part of her life; her husband is also a police officer, and they have two boys.

Anchorage Police and Alaska State Troopers will increase patrols on our state's roadways this weekend ahead of the Labor Day weekend. APD will have five extra officers working, while AST will continue aggressive enforcement of seat belt and DUI violators. "A lot more parties, long weekends, which usually means, a little more celebrating, a little more drinking, which always makes DUI's high,” said APD Officer Kelly Huston. Huston's beat includes downtown and her work week runs from Thursday through Sunday, which means she usually sees her fair share of domestic disturbances, DUI and drug related offenses.

The state House passed a controversial measure criminalizing federal enforcement of some gun laws in Alaska Monday, highlighting lawmakers' interest in addressing perceived federal overreach throughout the state. House Bill 69, which was sponsored by House Speaker Mike Chenault (R-Nikiski), passed on a 31-5 vote.  As initially proposed, it would make any attempt by a federal employee to enforce new gun restrictions a misdemeanor in the state -- but the substitute version of the bill passed by the House Monday upgraded the charge to a class C felony.

In 2012, the Anchorage Police Department reported five officer-involved shootings with deadly force, one of which left a member of Anchorage's Polynesian community dead. Following those incidents the Polynesian community rallied together demanding answers to why they occurred. On Monday, local law enforcement and other agencies attended a seminar reviewing the science behind how quickly an interaction can become one involving deadly force. Polynesian community leader Ma'o Tosi said he's glad local law enforcement is discussing and learning about deadly force interactions, following the fatal shooting of a 26-year-old man in June.