04/30/2026
Today, we recognize and celebrate the retirement (after today) of Alaska Wildlife Trooper Anthony “Tony” Beck after 27 years of dedicated service to the State of Alaska and the community of Valdez.
Trooper Beck was stationed in Valdez in 2002 and has spent 24 of those 27 years serving the Valdez community as the lone trooper stationed here. While Tony may wear a different patch and badge, over the years he has become much more than a member of a partner agency to us. He’s become part of the Valdez Police Department family. Simply put, we consider him one of us.
That sentiment is shared by our families too. In fact, many of our kids have made it pretty clear that Tony is “cooler” than the rest of us… something we can’t even argue with, especially considering he’s the only one who ever got his own custom LEGO figure (see photo). For the record, we’re still waiting on ours.
To describe Tony, we’re going to borrow a quote from Michael Scott of The Office:
“The dictionary defines superlative as: of the highest kind, quality, or order, surpassing all else, or others. Supreme.
That’s great—if we wanted the dictionary definition, we’d buy a dictionary.
We define it as Tony Beck.
As a law enforcement officer, as a leader, as a man, and as a friend—he is of the highest kind, quality, and order. Supreme."
Tony, we are incredibly grateful for the years we’ve had working alongside you and for the role you’ve played as an informal, but very real member of this department. We’re glad you’ll still be around, and we’re excited for you as you step into retirement and spend more time with your family.
For some of us, retirement isn’t too far off either, and we know there will be more bittersweet moments like this ahead. But today is about you. If you see him out and about today, do us a favor and wish him well and say thanks.
Thank you for everything.
Enjoy retirement, E11.
We love you, man.
Team VPD
