Alaska VPSO Program

Members of a graduating class of Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) trainees. Click on the picture to learn more.

The Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) program provides state funding for rural villages in Alaska (most of which are predominately Alaska Native) to train and hire their own public safety officers to assist the Alaska State Troopers in handling public safety and law enforcement problems (see Alaska state law enforcement). VPSOs receive six weeks' training at the Public Safety Academy in Sitka (see Law enforcement training and certification in Alaska). The VPSO program involves some 90 to 100 VPSOs in village throughout the state. Some rural villages rely upon locally hired Village Police Officers (VPOs); other villages have both a VPSO and one or more VPOs, who assist the VPSO in his or her duties.

See also:
Law enforcement > Alaska state law enforcement

Law enforcement > Law enforcement training and certification in Alaska

Alaska Natives > Alaska Natives & law enforcement
Criminal justice > Alaska rural justice

General information

• Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) Program. Program history, recruitment information, links to regional nonprofits, and VPSO bulletin board from the Alaska State Troopers.
• Alaska Administrative Code, Title 13, Chapter 96: Village Public Safety Officer Program. Administrative regulations.

Specific regions

• Association of Village Council Presidents (ACVP) VPSO Program. ACVP is a regional nonprofit including 56 villages in Southwest Alaska in an area encompassing approximately 140,000 square miles.
• Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) Village Public Safety. TCC is the traditional tribal consortium of the 42 villages of Interior Alaska.
• Tlingit-Haida Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) Program. Provides VPSOs for the Southeastern Alaska communities of Angoon, Hoonah, Hydaburg, Kake, Kasaan, Klawock, Pelican, Saxman, Tenakee Springs, Thorne Bay, and Yakutat.This site includes a general description of VPSO duties and a brief history of the VPSO program.

Justice Center articles & reports

Roberts, Justin. (Winter 2005). "Improving Public Safety in Rural Alaska: A Review of Past Studies." Alaska Justice Forum 21(4): 1, 3-8.

Roberts, Justin and Justice Center, University of Alaska Anchorage, compilers. (Winter 2005). "Studies, Reports, and Documents Relevant to the VPSO Program." Alaska Justice Forum 21(4): 6-7.

"Officer Turnover in the Village Public Safety Officer Program" by Darryl S. Wood. Alaska Justice Forum 17(2), Summer 2000.

"Explanations of Employment Turnover among Alaska Village Public Safety Officers" by Darryl Wood. Journal of Criminal Justice 30: 197-215 (2002).

Trostle, Lawrence C.; McShea, Darren; and Perras, Russell. (Winter 1992). "The Nonenforcement Role of the VPSO." Alaska Justice Forum 8(4): 1, 9-12.

Messick, M. James. (Jun 1979). "Village Safety Officer Program." Alaska Justice Forum 3(6): 1, 6-10.

Justice Center, University of Alaska Anchorage. (Feb 1979). "Village Police Training." Alaska Justice Forum 3(2): 1, 12.

Justice Center projects

Turnover Among Alaska Village Public Safety Officers (VPSOs): An Examination of the Factors Associated with Attrition (JC 9901). Darryl S. Wood. National Institute of Justice. 1998-2000.

Other information

• Policing Options Available to First Nations in Canada by Yves Dubé. Solicitor General Canada, April 7, 1995. This working paper includes a discussion of the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) program in Alaska.