After an attack, anxiety

At Anchorage Police Department headquarters, a vase of white daisies and pink lilies sits on a desk, waiting to be taken over to Officer Jason Allen's hospital room.

Early on the morning of Jan. 9, Allen, 47, was sitting in his patrol car in Fairview after a routine call when a black sedan pulled up next to him. An occupant of that car shot Allen several times before the sedan sped away. A department spokesman says Allen is currently in stable condition and improving, but is still in a lot of pain. APD has not yet announced any suspects in the shooting.

While detectives are chasing down a steady stream of leads, street cops are adjusting to life in the attack's aftermath. Officers are used to being on the street and operating in potentially dangerous situations, of course. But the targeted nature of the attack on Allen was different, and it's led to subtle changes around the department.

Officers, slightly on edge, are more likely to call for backup and are more conscious of potential dangers. Patrol cars are more likely to have two officers instead of one, especially at night. That's because several officers from the evening shift have been staying over onto the night shift in order to ride shotgun so fewer officers are riding alone after dark.

"You're thinking of the same things, just a couple of notches more because of what happened to Officer Allen," said Officer William Stafford, who has been with the department for 14 years.

Stafford works on APD's crisis intervention team, making sure victims of domestic violence are safe after their abusers are released on bail. Right now, Stafford said, he's more conscious of not pulling up directly next to cars when he stops at an intersection, and he leaves room between his car and the car in front of him so he can get away quickly if he needs to.

"Officers are trained to operate in what we call a permissive environment," said police union president Derek Hsieh, which means that while they are alert to dangers they are also able to interact with the public in a friendly and helpful way. A deliberate attack on an officer, however, can change that dynamic.

Hsieh said right now officers are operating in something closer to a tactical mode.

"They're going to be a little edgy, basically," Hsieh said. "The nighttime patrol assignments feel more dangerous."

Officers' families also feel more acutely the danger of police work, Hsieh said, especially families who haven't been in the department very long.

Officer Sean Case, who works nights as a K-9 handler, said families of officers who work the night shift worry more. Some officers would like to change to a different shift, he added.

"Spouses get a little shaken up when something like this happens," Case said.

Before the shooting, Case said, officers would write reports sitting alone in their car. Over the last week, though, officers have been doing their paperwork either back at a station or with another patrol car parked nearby.

According to APD spokesman Lt. Dave Parker, there's a heightened awareness of potential attacks on officers because of two recent police shootings in Washington state. One Seattle officer was killed while sitting in his patrol car on Halloween, and in November four officers were killed in a coffee shop near Tacoma. Two detectives who investigated the Seattle shooting have flown to Anchorage to help with the investigation, and Parker said the FBI is also assisting.

"They've got to get this fellow, and they've got to get him fast," he said.

Tips are coming in steadily, Parker said, and with numerous investigators working the case right now there are more sworn officers on the street than normal, which is standard for a high profile case like this.