North Slope Borough Police Records
Police records for the North Slope Borough are held by the North Slope Borough Police Department and, for areas beyond its direct reach, by the Alaska State Troopers. The borough covers the entire Arctic Slope of Alaska, from the Brooks Range to the Arctic Ocean, making it one of the largest local governments in the world by area. The borough seat is Utqiagvik, formerly called Barrow, which is the northernmost city in the United States. Getting records from this area follows the same general process as anywhere in Alaska, with a few practical details specific to this remote and vast region.
North Slope Borough Overview
North Slope Borough Police Department
The North Slope Borough maintains its own police department that serves communities throughout the borough. This is unusual for a census area in Alaska, where many regions rely entirely on the state troopers. The borough government provides a range of services to its remote communities, and police services are part of that. The department operates out of Utqiagvik and has officers assigned to several of the larger villages.
For incident reports and records tied to North Slope Borough Police Department responses, contact the department directly. The North Slope Borough official website has current contact information for borough departments. Phone and address information for the police department can be found through the borough's online directory.
Records requests go through the borough's public records process. Write out your request clearly, include the incident date and location, and submit it to the police department or the borough clerk, depending on the record type. Borough-level agencies follow the Alaska Public Records Act, which requires a response within 10 working days.
Note: Because the borough is so large and many villages are fly-in only, mail is the most reliable way to submit written records requests to the borough.
North Slope Borough Official Resources
The borough government handles a wide range of services for the eight communities on the North Slope. The official site is the starting point for finding the right department contact, whether you need police records, court information, or general government documents.
The North Slope Borough official website covers all borough departments, including public safety, and lists contact information for each.
The site also has information on borough governance and community resources that can help residents understand how to navigate official processes.
Alaska State Troopers Coverage
The Alaska State Troopers also operate in the North Slope Borough, particularly for incidents that involve state law and for communities where the borough police department may not have a direct presence. The Fairbanks AST Dispatch coordinates coverage for remote Interior and Arctic Alaska. The Fairbanks dispatch number is (907) 451-5100 and can direct you to the appropriate post or unit for your specific location.
For broader AST contacts, the AST contacts page lists all posts and dispatch centers. If you are not sure which agency handled an incident, call the Fairbanks dispatch or the North Slope Borough Police Department, and they can tell you which report to look for and where it is held.
DPS headquarters is at 5700 E Tudor Rd, Anchorage AK 99507, with a main line of (907) 269-5511. State-level resources like criminal history records and the sex offender registry are available through DPS regardless of where in Alaska the incident occurred.
Daily Dispatch Reports
The Alaska State Troopers publish daily activity reports through the Daily Dispatch portal. You can search by date and filter by region to see what troopers responded to in northern Alaska. This is not a full records system, but it is a free public tool for checking recent trooper activity.
The Daily Dispatch portal shows date-sorted trooper incident summaries from posts across the state, including remote Arctic areas.
Results in the dispatch system are not the full incident reports, but they can confirm that an event was responded to and give you the incident type and general location, which helps when submitting a records request.
Alaska Public Records Act and Records Access
The Alaska Public Records Act (AS 40.25.100-295) applies to the North Slope Borough just as it does to every other public body in Alaska. Any person can request public records. The law does not require a reason or an Alaska address. Agencies must respond within 10 working days of receiving your request.
For police records from the borough department, address your written request to the North Slope Borough Police Department or the borough clerk. For state trooper records, send your request to the relevant AST post. If the incident involved both agencies, you may need to file separate requests with each one to get a full picture of the record.
Exemptions under AS 40.25.120 protect active investigations, personal information where disclosure could harm privacy or safety, and other specified categories. If records are denied, the agency must state which exemption applies. You can appeal to the agency head within 60 working days. The appeal process does not cost anything, but it does require that you follow up in writing.
Copying fees vary by agency. Some offices charge only actual reproduction costs. Others set a per-page rate. Always ask about fees before submitting a large request, especially for documents that require staff time to compile or redact.
Criminal History Records
DPS maintains Alaska's statewide criminal history database. The self-service portal handles individual requests for personal criminal history. A name search costs $20. A fingerprint search, which is more accurate and less likely to return records that belong to someone else with a similar name, costs $35. Both options deliver results by email.
For questions, call the DPS Criminal Records unit at (907) 269-5767 or email dps.criminalrecords@alaska.gov. In-person fingerprint submissions are available at DPS offices across the state. AS 12.62.110-120 governs how these records are maintained and who can access them. The rules for self-requests are different from requests made by employers or other third parties.
Note: Criminal history records through DPS cover the entire state, so records from the North Slope Borough appear alongside records from any other Alaska jurisdiction.
Court Records
Cases filed in the North Slope Borough court system are searchable through CourtView, the Alaska Court System's free public case search tool. You can search by name or case number and see case-level information including charges, hearing dates, and dispositions. No account is needed.
For document copies, contact the trial court clerk. The trial courts page has contact information for each Alaska courthouse. Fees are $5 for the first page copied, $3 per additional page, and $10 plus $3 per page for certified documents. Research time is billed at $30 per hour.
AS 22.35.030 requires the court to remove dismissed and acquitted cases from public view in CourtView after 60 days. A name search that comes up empty may mean no case was filed, or it may mean a case was filed and then dismissed, with the 60-day removal period already passed.
Sex Offender Registry and Missing Persons
The Alaska Sex Offender Registry covers all registered offenders statewide. Search by name or location to find registered offenders with addresses in the North Slope Borough. The registry holds over 3,640 entries and is updated regularly. AS 12.63.100 sets registration requirements. Access is free and no account is required.
Missing persons reports for the North Slope Borough should go to the Alaska State Troopers. The statewide missing persons line is (907) 269-5497, with a toll-free number at 1-800-478-9333. The email address is dps.missing.persons@alaska.gov. The program runs under AS 18.65.620. In a region this remote, early reporting is especially important due to the distances involved in search and response efforts.
DOC records for people who have been in Alaska state custody can be requested by calling (907) 465-3485 or writing to P.O. Box 112000, Juneau AK 99811. Details are on the DOC records page.
Communities in the North Slope Borough
The North Slope Borough has eight communities: Utqiagvik (the borough seat), Anaktuvuk Pass, Atqasuk, Kaktovik, Nuiqsut, Point Hope, Point Lay, and Wainwright. All are accessible only by air. None of the communities outside Utqiagvik reach the population threshold for a dedicated city page.
All communities in the borough are served by the North Slope Borough Police Department and the Alaska State Troopers. Records tied to specific communities should be requested from the agency that responded to the incident.
Nearby Boroughs
The North Slope Borough shares its southern border with the Northwest Arctic Borough and parts of the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area.