The state agency that will review Monday’s fatal police shooting of Steven Kissack has assessed 148 officer-involved shootings since 2010, none of which resulted in a recommendation of criminal charges, Alaska Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore said Wednesday.
Top Department of Law officials held a press conference Wednesday in Anchorage to explain how the state determines the necessity of lethal force, following the shooting of Kissack that was the ninth officer-involved case in Alaska this year. Kissack was killed while wielding a knife in a confrontation with officers on a street in downtown Juneau.
Skidmore, when asked how the public can have confidence in the process given the outcome of previous reviews, said it reflects proper responses by officers.
“My response to that would be that we’re fortunate in the state of Alaska that we have a law enforcement community that is more professional, is better trained and we have not had the problems that have existed in the Lower 48 where charges have been filed,” Skidmore said.
“And in each and every instance — when anyone has looked at it — nobody has yet to say that the call that we’ve made has been inappropriate,” he said, adding the University of Alaska Anchorage sometimes reviews cases.
In this black-and-white photo posted this week in downtown Juneau on Front Street, Steven Kissack and his dog Juno are side by side. She was taken to Juneau Animal Rescue on Monday. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Skidmore said the Office of Special Prosecution, which reviews investigations of shootings, remains vigilant and “we hope that we will never encounter a situation in which officers use lethal force that’s in violation of criminal law.”
Use of deadly force by officers is allowed when they believe it is necessary to make an arrest, end an escape or attempted escape from custody of someone they believe has committed a violent crime, or possesses a firearm, or poses a threat of death or serious injury, according to Alaska state statute.
No state statute requires cases be referred to prosecutors. However, Skidmore said since 2009 every officer-involved shooting has been referred to the Office of Special Prosecutions.
All final reviews are made public so people can have confidence in decisions being made, Skidmore said. He added evidence during an active investigation cannot be released to the public.
The release of video from body-worn cameras by officers is frequently requested. Often, such requests come while officers are still gathering evidence, or the case is being reviewed by officers and prosecutors to determine whether criminal charges should be filed.
Skidmore acknowledged this creates a tension between the public’s desire for transparency and the constitutional due process rights of potential defendants.
“How many times have you seen a prosecutor from the Alaska Department of Law release the evidence in our homicide cases prior to trial?” Skidmore asked. “I hope the answer is never. Because if we did, we’d have been violating that person’s constitutional rights.”
In conducting the review process, the principles of criminal law must be followed, he said.
“The last thing that we would ever want is for an officer-involved shooting to result in criminal charges, only to have some portion of that investigation be thrown out because it didn’t comply with the law,” Skidmore said.
He noted there are cases in which it has taken the Department of Law too long to complete a review and the state is working to improve this.
For example, an officer-involved shooting occurred in Tok on Oct. 30, 2023, and a declination letter — meaning no charges were filed against the Alaska State Trooper — was issued on July 15.
Last week Skidmore said he met with the Office of Special Prosecutions and assigned additional prosecutors so information can be released faster. There are now seven prosecutors, when before there were three.
Kissack’s death is in the early stages of being investigated, according to a Department of Law press release.
A prosecutor has been in communication with investigators and is awaiting reports from law enforcement, as well as the autopsy and ballistics. Kissack’s body is expected to go to the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage, according to news releases from Alaska’s Public Safety Department and Juneau Police Department.
The Juneau police officers who discharged their weapons were placed on administrative leave and the wildlife trooper who discharged his weapon was placed on 72 hours of administrative leave, according to state policy. On Thursday, the wildlife trooper was identified as Sgt. Branden Forst, who is currently assigned to the Juneau Alaska Wildlife Trooper post.
On Monday at 1:11 p.m., a Juneau police officer contacted Kissack on Front Street, near where he and his dog Juno often slept beneath an awning. Kissack was homeless and his malamute brought him great solace, community members and his friends said at a Tuesday night vigil.
“Myself and my colleagues when we got food or a sandwich or something, and we took it out there at some point, it was always interesting because anytime we did something like that and engaged Steven, the first bite always seemed to go to Juno,” said Kirby Day, a local tourism industry leader who was named Citizen of the Year by the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce in 2018.
On Monday, officers were following up about an assault that occurred at a downtown apartment building on Sunday. During the initial contact, Kissack held a knife and refused orders from the officer to put the knife down, according to JPD.
The press release states, “the officer immediately called upon his training and skills in de-escalation and began attempts to defuse the situation with Kissack.”
The officer requested additional assistance, and several JPD officers and Forst responded to the scene. Officers negotiated with Kissack for more than 10 minutes, but he continued to refuse to comply, according to JPD.
JPD officers deployed less-than-lethal munitions before Kissack charged forward. Then officers opened fire multiple times.
Despite lifesaving efforts by law enforcement on scene and Capital City Fire/Rescue, Kissack was pronounced dead at Bartlett Regional Hospital.
“This is a regretful event for everyone involved,” Juneau Police Chief Derek Bos wrote in an information release Tuesday evening. “We recognize that friends throughout our community, and family far away, will be mourning the loss of Kissack in the days to come. Thank you to all the members of our community who have come together to support the myriad of individuals affected by this incident.”
When there is an officer-involved shooting, the Office of Special Prosecutions is immediately notified and they begin tracking the case. When possible a state prosecutor will be on the scene of an incident. But that wasn’t possible in Juneau on Monday, Skidmore said.
JPD requested the Alaska Bureau of Investigation, responsible for investigations within Alaska State Troopers’ jurisdiction, take the lead in investigating Kissack’s death. Upon the completion of ABI’s investigation, the Office of Special Prosecutions will review the case to make a final determination if the use of lethal force was justified or not.
Alaska Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore was asked how the Office of Special Prosecution determines the credibility of a law enforcement agency’s investigation of itself. He said all statements are evaluated by comparing them to the other evidence available.
“When you talk about the credibility of an institute that investigates itself, you really have to look at how did the entity set up their organization to begin with,” he said. “Are there steps or efforts taken to separate the officers that are involved in the shooting from individuals that are actually conducting the investigation?”
“That’s the reason that things like body-worn cameras, audio recordings are all so critical — the autopsy and the ballistics. All of those different pieces of evidence are the types of things that prosecutors look at for corroboration of statements that are made.”
Skidmore added it’s challenging to have a different agency investigate cases due to Alaska’s size and geography.
The review by Alaska state prosecutors is not meant to cover the policies of individual agencies, or to evaluate if there is civil liability of an officer or agency based on their use of force, he said. It’s only meant to determine if officers violated the criminal law.
The last fatal police shooting in Juneau was December 2019 when Officer James Esbenshade killed 34-year-old Kelly Michael Stephens.
State officials concluded the shooting was justified, according to a news release from JPD. The family sued and the case was dismissed.
People attending a Resurrection Lutheran Church vigil on Tuesday said Kissack’s death represents both the great failings and great heart of Juneau as a community. Juneau residents who knew Kissack expressed their outrage through tears in an Empire interview on Monday.
“Once you got to know him he was a pretty nice guy,” said William Sanders, who said he’s known Kissack for three or four years and watched the shooting happen. “I haven’t been downtown in two months and then I see my best friend get shot.”
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.
