State training requirements
Alaska Peace Officer Training Requirements
Who governs peace officer standards in Alaska, the annual in-service requirement, the mandated topics for de-escalation and crisis response, and who decides what counts for in-service credit.
Verified as of July 9, 2026
Who governs
Peace officer standards and training in Alaska are set by the Alaska Police Standards Council (APSC).
Annual in-service requirement
Alaska has no mandated annual continuing or in-service training-hour requirement to maintain police officer certification. The only recurring maintenance obligation is annual firearms qualification. Training hours accrue toward optional intermediate and advanced certificates (a minimum of 20 training hours per year of experience toward those certificates), which is voluntary career advancement rather than a maintenance mandate. Under Council guidance there is no requirement to report training hours unless the event was directly funded by the Council, and the Council has discussed future minimum in-service requirements.
Mandated topics relevant to CodeBlu
De-escalation, crisis intervention, and mental health
None are mandated as recurring in-service training for certified police officers. Such topics appear only within the 650-hour basic academy as one-time initial training. The Alaska Police Standards Council has publicly discussed adding de-escalation and use-of-force in-service requirements.
Source: 13 AAC 85.050 (basic academy)
Who decides in-service credit
Agency discretion
Alaska has no state in-service hour mandate, so agencies determine ongoing training. The Council certifies courses and instructors for basic and specialized training but does not gate a recurring in-service credit requirement.
What this means for training like CodeBlu
Because Alaska leaves the in-service credit decision to each agency's chief executive, a department can decide whether training like CodeBlu counts toward its non-perishable in-service hours. This is not a determination of eligibility: CodeBlu does not certify hours or grant credit, the chief executive owns that decision, and agency policy and legal counsel govern. CodeBlu provides the per-officer records and transcripts that support the decision and the agency's own reporting.
Primary sources
- POST-equivalent siteAlaska Police Standards Council (official site)
- Administrative code13 AAC 85.040 (certification standards)
- Administrative code13 AAC 85.050 (basic academy)
Verified as of July 9, 2026. This page is reviewed on an annual cadence, and the date is bumped only on re-verification against the primary sources above.
Frequently asked questions
- Who sets peace officer training requirements in Alaska?
- Alaska Police Standards Council (APSC) sets peace officer standards and training requirements in Alaska.
- How many annual in-service training hours does Alaska require?
- Alaska has no mandated annual continuing or in-service training-hour requirement to maintain police officer certification. The only recurring maintenance obligation is annual firearms qualification. Training hours accrue toward optional intermediate and advanced certificates (a minimum of 20 training hours per year of experience toward those certificates), which is voluntary career advancement rather than a maintenance mandate. Under Council guidance there is no requirement to report training hours unless the event was directly funded by the Council, and the Council has discussed future minimum in-service requirements.
- Who decides what training counts for in-service credit in Alaska?
- Alaska has no state in-service hour mandate, so agencies determine ongoing training. The Council certifies courses and instructors for basic and specialized training but does not gate a recurring in-service credit requirement.