Troopers apologize for memory card seizure

WASILLA — The director of the Alaska State Troopers said on Tuesday that a trooper sergeant was wrong to seize a digital memory card from a Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman in September.

“We dropped the ball,” said Col. James Cockrell during a meeting with the Frontiersman’s editorial staff at the paper’s Wasilla headquarters.

The Frontiersman filed a formal complaint with the Department of Public Safety after Trooper Sgt. Michael Ingram seized a camera memory card from reporter Brian O’Connor, who minutes earlier had taken several photos of troopers arresting an assault suspect in Willow. Ingram pulled over O’Connor’s vehicle and demanded the reporter turn over the card, which O’Connor did.

The memory card was returned to the Frontiersman later in the day, but the paper argued the seizure was unconstitutional and filed a complaint. That complaint triggered an investigation by the Office of Professional Standards, Cockrell said.

The investigation resulted in a 680-page report, which Ingram said was completed this month. The Frontiersman has requested a copy of the report, but Ingram said it will remain confidential because it detailed what he described as “a personnel matter.”

However, during his interview with the paper, Col. Cockrell apologized for the seizure and said the report found Ingram had no legal right to seize the memory card.

“He shouldn’t have seized the card, and he should have asked for consent,” Cockrell said.

As head of the troopers, Cockrell said he took the incident extremely seriously, as did the investigators who prepared the report.

“They did a very extensive investigation,” he said.

Cockrell said he couldn’t say whether Ingram faced any discipline, but did say the trooper was still on active duty and remains a trusted and valuable member of the department. He said the 12-year veteran of the statewide police force is “a really good investigator” who he would trust with the most sensitive of investigations.

“If I had something happen to my own family, he’s the one I’d want,” working the case, Ingram said. “He’s our (go-to) guy.”

Cockrell said Ingram thought he was acting in the best interest of the department and pointed out that Ingram’s supervisor also authorized the seizure. Those actions, he said, were wrong.

“The bottom line is we screwed up,” he said.

As a result of the incident, Cockrell said all state troopers will undergo a four-hour refresher course this spring on search and seizure law. Although troopers are educated on the subject while in training, he said he thinks more training is needed.

“I think it’s something we need a refresher on,” he said.

Cockrell said the incident is likely to be discussed during the training sessions.

“I’m sure it will be,” he said.

Cockrell apologized to O’Connor and the Frontiersman for the incident and said he hopes the admission that a mistake was made will help build trust between the department, the media and the public.

“I think that’s the only way people can have confidence in what we’re doing,” he said.