Ketchikan police chief resigns rather than face criminal charges

Ketchikan’s police chief has resigned under an agreement that dismisses criminal charges against him stemming from a 2022 off-duty altercation in a restaurant that injured another man.

Jeffrey Walls, 48, signed the agreement with state prosecutors on Aug. 27. He stepped down as chief effective Sept. 10.

Walls was hired as Ketchikan police chief in 2021. Before that, he worked at the New Orleans Police Department for 24 years.

He was accused of injuring a man during an encounter at the Salmon Falls resort restaurant in September 2022.

Walls and his wife were sitting at the bar when a stranger twice fell into or pushed their chairs, according to charges filed in the case. Witnesses told investigators Walls pursued the man after he walked away, pushed him and caused his head to hit a stone wall, then placed him in a chokehold while the man bled from a head wound, the charges said.

Walls claims he lawfully used force to detain the man before on-duty officers could arrive, according to information in court filings.

The other man was initially arrested on charges of assault, harassment and being drunk on a licensed premise based on documents signed by Walls and his wife, according to filings in that case. Those charges were later dismissed.

Walls was indicted on a felony assault charge three times by grand juries. The felony was dropped after a judge dismissed the indictments after finding issues with the state’s grand jury presentations. Walls remained charged with five misdemeanors, which did not require a grand jury.

The agreement dismisses the misdemeanor charges in exchange for his resignation and a voluntary disqualification from holding law enforcement jobs in Alaska.

Walls was placed on paid administrative leave for more than eight months after the case began. He was reinstated as chief when the felony indictment was dismissed in August 2023.

In his resignation, Walls wrote that he is retiring “for personal reasons.” He plans to move to the Lower 48 to help with family health matters and explore jobs in a new field, his attorney said.