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Alaska Bureau of Investigation

The Alaska Bureau of Investigation (ABI) is responsible for coordinating and conducting major criminal investigations within Alaska State Troopers jurisdiction to include homicides, sexual assaults, polygraph examinations, fraud, forgery, computer and internet crimes, surveillance, missing persons and lengthier property crimes investigations. The mission of the bureau focuses also on developing the investigative skills of personnel within the Department of Public Safety and building collaborative relationships with other law enforcement agencies.

In January of 2011, the bureau took on the job of coordinating law enforcement's efforts to reduce the availability of  illegal alcohol and controlled substances throughout Alaska. Because the investigations conducted by ABI and the Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement were similar in nature as far as complexity, investigative process and length, ABADE was changed into the Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit  (SDEU)  that now falls under ABI. Combining resources under ABI promotes a more complimentary use of personnel and investigative resources that were in many instances already located in the same region.

The bureau is divided into a variety of specialized units located in Anchorage, Mat-Su, Fairbanks, Soldotna, Southeast Alaska and throughout Western Alaska. While units are distributed across the state and have regional responsibilities, ABI resources are integrated because many of the different types of crimes that rise to the level of involving ABI are often interconnected. Suspects in a drug investigation may also be property crime perpetrators in order to financially support a drug habit. Regardless of where a primary duty station is for an investigator, they deploy anywhere in the state to investigate serious crimes. This approach takes advantage of individual or unit expertise to enhance investigations anywhere the need arises. These units are:

• Major Crimes Unit
• Technical Crimes Unit
• Property Crimes Unit
• Financial Crimes Unit
• Child Abuse Investigation Units
• Cold Case Investigation Units
• Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit
• Missing Persons Clearinghouse

In addition to conducting investigative operations, the ABI does a host of auxiliary services to include:

• Provide individuals trained to serve as crisis negotiators
• Provide personnel to staff the Special Emergency Reaction Teams (SERT)
• Coordinate the availability of polygraph examiners to assist troopers and other Alaska law enforcement agencies in conducting criminal and pre-employment polygraph examinations for DPS applicants
• Provide statewide support with major investigations, follow-up interviews and autopsies performed in Anchorage at the State Medical Examiner's Office
• Provide certified instructors for crime scene investigations, motor vehicle crash investigations, interviews and interrogations, computer forensics and electronic evidence training and a variety of other training subjects such as SART and domestic violence
• Represent the department on a variety of working groups and task forces to include human trafficking, Internet Crimes Against Children, Child Justice Act Task Force, Sexual Assault Response Team and the U.S. Attorney's Office Financial Crimes Task Force