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 t...