APD chief presents restrictive draft for real-time crime center; committee raises privacy, public-record concerns

The Anchorage police chief presented a draft real-time crime center (RTCC) policy to the Assembly Public Health and Safety Committee on Oct. 1 that sets a 14-day retention period for municipal camera footage not attached to an investigation and places strict controls on access and sharing.

The proposed policy allows the department to view private or business camera feeds when owners grant access, but the chief said viewed footage remains the property of the private owner until the department captures a copy and imports it into the department—s evidence management system. Once copied into evidence, it becomes part of government records and subject to retention and public-record rules.

"Those feeds are not considered public record" until the department captures them, the chief said. He told the committee that any external agency request to access footage would require his approval and a determination that the request complied with the RTCC policy.

The policy as presented restricts access to RTCC staff, requires use of an encrypted, FedRAMP-style evidence-management system with audit logs, and expressly prohibits use of predictive analytics tied to individual characteristics. It also directs quarterly reviews by the municipal attorney—s office and a public annual report listing number of external shares, warrants obtained using RTCC footage and first-amendment event uses.

Committee members asked several procedural questions: whether municipal code references should be added to the policy text; how the department would handle private feed retention schedules when owners overwrite recordings; and whether the policy prevents other agencies from getting continuous access to live feeds. The chief said the policy will be amended to cite municipal code where relevant and reiterated that he would personally approve agency sharing requests.

The department emphasized that the RTCC policy was intentionally restrictive and designed to balance investigatory benefits with civil-rights protections. The chief said the policy—s limits are stricter than policies in other jurisdictions in areas such as retention.