Hannah Flor

They credit the change to a balance between enforcement and diversion programs.

According to Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case, behavioral health and substance misuse issues are at the heart of the city’s high number of police shootings.

Chris Andrews with some samples of confiscated goods in his office at the Ted Steven Anchorage International Airport on June 4, 2026. Andrews says he never knows what he's going to find next.

Other stinky boxes came down the belt.

Chris Andrews was working the belt at the Anchorage airport last fall, watching international cargo arrive. “An employee said, ‘Hey, this box stinks, Chris,'” Andrews recalled.

Chris Andrews was working the belt at the Anchorage airport last fall, watching international cargo arrive.

Chris Andrews poses for a photo with confiscated goods, June 4, 2026, at his office in the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage. James Daggett/Alaska Public Media via AP

Danny Clift stands by the creek behind his house in East Anchorage. Clift grew up in Aniak Alaska, next to both vast wilderness and an airport and says the sounds of low flying helicopters and live ammunition coming from the base make him feel at home.

Jennifer Pierce and a paramedic talk with a woman who called dispatch with a racing heart and difficulty breathing on June 12, 2026. Pierce said she was likely having an anxiety attack.

Conjoined residential buildings like this one on E Street in Anchorage aren’t currently allowed in some areas with more restrictive zoning code.