Union accuses public safety commissioner of making ‘premature guilt’ statements about troopers charged in violent arrest

The union representing Alaska State Troopers contends that the state’s top public safety official made a “premature guilt announcement” about two Kenai Peninsula troopers facing criminal charges stemming from a chaotic arrest of the wrong man in late May.

Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell at a media briefing last week said he was “totally sickened” by the troopers’ actions, which he described as unacceptable and considered “gross misconduct.”

Trooper Jason Woodruff and Sgt. Joseph Miller pepper-sprayed the 38-year-old, punched him and stepped on his head, shocked him with a Taser, and allowed a prolonged police dog attack, according to charging documents filed in the case. They arrested the man at a Kenai park on May 24 after mistaking him for a cousin wanted on a $150 misdemeanor warrant, the charges say. His injuries were described as including a fractured scapula and muscle lacerations.

Woodruff and Miller are scheduled for their first court hearings next month on one misdemeanor count of fourth-degree assault each.

[Previously: Alaska State Troopers used ‘unreasonable’ force, including police dog and Taser, in arrest of wrong man, assault charges say]

In a letter released Thursday, the Public Safety Employees Association said Cockrell “publicly pronounced the guilt of these two troopers in a press conference, without hearing the troopers’ side of the story and without any regard for the troopers’ constitutional right to due process and a fair and impartial trial.”

The letter goes on to say that the union believes “all Alaskans have the constitutional right to due process, including the troopers charged in this incident. If they are found guilty of a crime, it should be because they were convicted by a jury of their peers and not by a public pronouncement by Commissioner Cockrell.”

The commissioner deprived the troopers of their constitutional rights, the letter states, adding that union members “across the state continue to provide essential public safety services to the citizens of Alaska and will continue to do so while treating all Alaskans with dignity and respect.”

A union representative couldn’t immediately be reached for additional comment Friday.

A state public safety spokesman emailed a statement in response to the letter.

“The Alaska Department of Public Safety has a duty to be transparent and open with the Alaskans that we serve and protect. We stand by the decision to host a press conference in Anchorage to answer questions from Alaskans and the media on the incident that occurred in Kenai,” spokesman Austin McDaniel wrote. “We will continue to ensure that the rights of any defendant, suspect, witness, or victim in a crime that we investigate are honored and protected as required by law.”

Earlier this month, the union representing Anchorage Police Department employees sent a letter expressing dismay at city officials’ response to a series of shootings involving APD officers since May.

The troopers involved in the Kenai Peninsula incident remain employed by the state, McDaniel said by email Friday. “Both were taken out of service by Commissioner Cockrell after he became aware of the Kenai incident, and have not been returned to service.”

Asked if the troopers remain on paid or unpaid leave, McDaniel said state law doesn’t allow him to provide that information.

Members of the Public Safety Employees Association charged with a crime “involving the member’s duties and responsibilities” on the job are placed on leave without pay — or they’re allowed to use accrued personal leave — pending the conclusion of any criminal proceeding, according to the union’s most recent collective bargaining agreement.

State public safety officials have said they don’t plan to release body-worn camera footage of the May arrest on the Kenai until investigations into the incident and the officers’ use of force are complete.

Nick Feronti, an attorney with the Northern Justice Project, on Wednesday personally filed a civil lawsuit asking a judge to order the footage be released.