The Anchorage Police Department has partnered with Anchorage Cops 4 Community (AC4C) and the National Police Activities League (NPAL) bringing kids ages 13-17 a youth academy called Pathways to Policing. Parent permission is required and sessions occur twice a month at various APD locations. The sessions focus on police topics and forensic hands-on activities. Sessions are held on Wednesday evenings from 5:30 PM to 7PM. The academy size is limited to the first 30 youth registered each year. Parents will be notified of their child’s registration status. Registration closed this year on September 30, 2024. 

This youth mentorship program is tailored for individuals aged 14-17 and offers insights into the multifaceted operations in our department! For more details or inquiries about this program, feel free to reach out to us at 907-786-8811. 

Each May, AC4C and APD participate in Anchorage Community Clean Up Week by sprucing up Louie G. Mizelle Memorial Park in the Mt. View area. The park is dedicated to APD Patrol Officer Louie Mizelle, killed in the line of duty while responding to a citizen in distress. We partner with Matson and Walmart to bag trash, pull weeds, and plant flowers. This year we had a local resident stop to admire our work and help get the last of the flowers in the ground! 

Spring kicks off our monthly Coffee with a Cop events, which take place at various coffee shops around town. AC4C partners with APD to help host, and we encourage community members of all ages to stop by. This event is a fun way for members of the community to meet members of the department in a casual, low-pressure environment. Each month highlights employees from a different unit, including SROs, Traffic, Patrol, Detectives, and Dispatch. 

STAR Walk a Mile is an amazing event that works to raise funds and awareness for survivors of sexual assault. Events like this allow STAR to offer their services at no cost. AC4C volunteers with and donates financially to STAR each year.

While October may be cold in Alaska, it’s still technically fall. Every year we join Anchorage Downtown Partnership to bring treats to all the ghouls, goblins, monsters, and dinosaurs Anchorage has to offer. AC4C, Walmart, and FORTRESS partner to bring candy and cool cars for kids of all ages to enjoy.

Adventures for Ava holds a special place in the hearts of many of our officers. AC4C helps sponsor the mission of providing families with special needs kids the ability to capture memories in the great outdoors. In October this year, Bear Tooth Theatre Pub & Grill premiered an amazing film documenting 4 adventures with different families. 

Summer brings lots of exciting programs and chances to interact with kids in the community. This year, we contributed to 2 new programs - ice cream giveaways with the Traffic Unit and a truck load of bubbles for the School Resource officers!

2023 brought a brand new program to the AC4C family—a partnership with Young Lives to celebrate Christmas in July. With a generous grant from Matson, our volunteers took 2 young mothers to shop for baby and toddler needs at Walmart. They selected everyday essentials, larger items like strollers, and things that might otherwise be out of reach financially for teen parents. The items were taken to the Young Lives facilities and distributed to teen parents throughout Anchorage.