ALASKA'S VILLAGE PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS

摘要

To help keep the peace in Alaska's tiny indigenous villages, the state deputizes rural peace officers known as village public safety officers, or VPSOs. This role can often require a varied skill set-the state trains VPSOs to perform law enforcement, fire suppression, and first-aid CPR duties. Compensation rivals that for less-experienced Alaska State Troopers and can far exceed pay offered by many of the nation's smaller police agencies. This little-known law enforcement position came into the spotlight in March, when VPSO Thomas Madole was killed while responding to a domestic call. Madole was found dead outside a residence in the western Alaska community of Mano-kotak. Leroy Dick, 42, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, then confessed to the crime in front of a local judge.