Sitka is getting a new full-time police chief. The Sitka Assembly approved the promotion of Lieutenant Mike Hall to the position at its meeting Tuesday night (3-10-26). Hall says he’s hoping to build an environment of trust with the community and within his department.
The Sitka Police Department has been actively searching for a permanent full-time chief since former interim police chief Robert Baty stepped down last summer after six years on the job. Longtime trooper academy commander Chad Goeden stepped in to lead the department while the city continued its search for Baty’s replacement.
Assistant Municipal Administrator Josh Branthoover led the search. He said during the assembly meeting on March 10 that the process entailed “extensive vetting, multiple rounds of interviews and in person meet and greets with the community, along with survey and input opportunities from the public.”
“I set goals of identifying the candidate that was most likely to want to be intimately involved with our community, that possessed the servant leadership qualities needed to lead alongside their team, that displayed the humility to work with others through challenges, and the compassion and fortitude to wield the power entrusted to them,” Branthoover said.
The city identified Mike Hall as the top candidate in October, but because of certification requirements, he was hired as a lieutenant and was sent to a police officer academy to become eligible for police service in Alaska. Branthoover says Hall has now successfully completed those requirements and is eligible to serve as Sitka’s police chief.
“He brings decades of law enforcement experience and demonstrates the leadership qualities we are seeking in Sitka’s next police chief,” he said.
Hall finished his time with the academy in Fairbanks and arrived in Sitka about a month ago.
“I love this place,” Hall told the assembly Tuesday. “It’s growing on me quick. I grew up as a family of charter fishermen — a little warmer weather down in South Florida. And so this culture reminds me a little bit of Key West meets Appalachia, Tennessee meets Montana meets a little bit of everything. It’s a beautiful place with beautiful people. A safe place, for the most part, and everybody seems to like the police, and I’m going to do my best to keep it that way.”
Hall’s inheriting a department that’s seen a tumultuous decade, marked by high department turnover, several lawsuits brought by former officers that were settled out of court, and public outcry after police euthanized six shelter animals by gunshot in 2024.
Assembly Member Katie Riley asked Hall how he would engage and build trust with the community moving forward.
“How are you going to work in the next few months, but also throughout your tenure, to cultivate a culture of community-oriented policing, both yourself as the leader of the department and amongst the officers that you oversee?” she asked.
Hall said that recruiting is his top priority, since it’s hard to make progress without the staff in place to do so. When Hall steps into the new role, 12 of the department’s 27 positions will be vacant, according to the department, although three people are currently in training. He said he’d like to hire at least one investigator dedicated to serious crimes like domestic violence and sexual assault. Hall also wants to continue to raise officer morale and create an environment where staff want to come to work every day.
“Police are a part of your community,” Hall said. “We’re not above it. We’re not below it. We’re equal to it, and it’s not us versus them. It’s all of us together working in a community to make it better. I don’t want to over police the community, and I don’t want to under police the community. There has to be a balance [where] we all work together coherently to make it a better place.”
Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said it’s not common for the assembly to be involved in such a lengthy process to approve a department head. He said being so involved in choosing the police chief reflects how important the job is to the community.
“The trust of the police department really is the trust of City Hall,” he said. “If the citizens don’t trust our police department, they don’t trust City Hall. They don’t trust the assembly, and all of that flows down. So this position is very much key to making everything flow in the department. And if you live up to the words that you were speaking earlier, we’re all going to be successful.”
The assembly unanimously approved Hall’s promotion, with a starting salary of $134,000. Hall starts on March 16.
