Anchorage Assembly delays confirmation hearing for police chief appointee

An Assembly confirmation hearing for newly appointed Anchorage Police Chief Bianca Cross will not happen until July, when a new mayoral administration takes office.

A confirmation hearing for Cross scheduled for Friday was canceled. It will happen in July, after Mayor-elect Suzanne LaFrance takes office July 1, said Assembly Chair Chris Constant.

“At this point it doesn’t make sense to proceed confirming a nominee of the outgoing mayor,” Constant said Friday. “It’s really a question for the new mayor.”

Asked whether she would move forward with Cross as APD chief, LaFrance said in a statement Friday that the “decision around the timing of a confirmation hearing comes from the Assembly.”

“I had an opportunity to sit down with Chief Cross earlier this week and talk about the department and priorities for keeping Anchorage safe,” the statement said. “Public safety is the number one job of local government, and I am grateful for the work she is doing.”

LaFrance also said she was “thinking comprehensively about the team that will make local government work better and make Anchorage safer” and would “share more in coming weeks.”

Outgoing Mayor Dave Bronson named Cross as police chief in April. Cross, a 27-year veteran of the force, is the first woman to head the Anchorage Police Department in the city’s history.