Wrangell to get new trooper in several weeks

A new trooper has been selected to take the vacant Wrangell assignment, Alaska Wildlife Troopers confirmed this week.

“We’ve had that position filled,” said AWT Captain Steve Hall.

In October the Wrangell post was vacated with the resignation of Trooper Fred Burk. Burk had been stationed in the area about a year, following a push by locals and their legislative representation to retain the position, which had been under threat of reduction due to budget cutbacks. No trooper had been stationed in Wrangell through the spring and summer of 2015, with the Petersburg post taking on those additional duties.

Trooper David Bozman, currently assigned to Soldotna, has been chosen to fill the position. Bozman graduated from Public Safety Training Academy in the summer of 2015, and Hall explained the trooper has previously been assigned to temporary duties in Southeast, so “he has a little bit of a heads up.”

Reassignment gives troopers 90 days to make the transition, and Bozman is expected to report into town later in the month.

Hall explained it is difficult to fill solitary posts like Wrangell with first-time officers, and that placement instead tends to come from within existing ranks. Bozman was the most senior applicant from those who applied.