Proposed law named for Palmer woman

JUNEAU — An Anchorage state senator has introduced legislation stemming from the experiences a Palmer teenager had during a traffic stop.

Dubbed Nancy’s Law, the legislation adds public members to the Alaska Police Standards Council and gives that body the ability to suspend an officer’s certification rather than revoke it.

“The inspiration for increasing the number of public members to the council came from a constituent named Nancy, who felt she was treated unfairly by police and didn’t know where else to turn,” said Sen. Lesil McGuire in a press statement announcing the introduction of Nancy’s Law. “The council provides detailed scrutiny of complaints that are filed. Adding two more public members increases the public’s voice and provides extra protection for victims of misconduct.”

The Nancy in question is Nancy Means, who hails from Palmer. She is the plaintiff in a lawsuit with the municipality of Anchorage seeking to have the record of her arrest thrown out.

Anchorage attorneys have said in media accounts of the lawsuit that they stand by the arrest and will fight the lawsuit.

Another piece of legislation, introduced by Fred Dyson, would actually give Means one of the things she sees in her lawsuit — it would make those arrest records confidential. In fact, confidentiality would be automatic in cases that ended with an acquittal or, as in Means’ case, a dismissal. Both bills were referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee and are awaiting action there.

The arrest in question came on Nov. 25, 2011. Means and friends were out shopping Anchorage’s Black Friday sales when the minivan Means was driving — which belongs to her father, Norman Means — stopped working at the intersection of Tudor Road and C Street. Officer David Burns stopped to help, pushing the minivan into a nearby parking lot.

Burns said he smelled alcohol in the car and tried to talk to Nancy Means about it. On recordings of the event that Norman Means provided the Frontiersman, Nancy Means refuses to say anything.

Means was arrested and booked at the Anchorage Jail, but when she blew into a Breathalyzer she returned a result of .00 — no alcohol on her breath.

“As a direct result of Officer Burns’ false report, false arrest and the continuation of presentment and opening a court case after having irrefutable actual knowledge of no alcohol consumption by Ms. Means, Ms. Means has a closed court case on Court View, a database open to the public, for an arrest on unspecified charges that was subsequently declined for prosecution by the Municipality of Anchorage,” Nancy Means’ lawsuit states.

The lawsuit seeks to have that record deleted from Court View and to recover damages and attorneys’ fees for Nancy Means.

McGuire’s press release doesn’t get into the veracity of Means’ complaint.

Norman Means said he believes the council’s process is not nearly transparent enough. A physician himself, he compared it to what happens when a complaint is leveled against a doctor with his or her state accrediting board.

“If the complaint were eventually found to have merit, a public hearing would be scheduled,” Norman Means said. “The results of that hearing and the findings of that medical board would be public.”

None of that happens with the Alaska Police Standards Council, he said. The council does announce which officers have had their certifications revoked, but will not state the reasoning for it.

“It’s essential for the public to demand that the law enforcement officers be held to a higher standard,” Norman Means said. “They say that with great power comes great responsibility.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.