File:ASP 1960 Fairbanks.jpg

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|date=0006-12-24 |source=Own work |author=[[User:Rypl Fx|Leah L. Burton]

English: Richard L. "Dick' Burton (born March 4, 1933 - died June 1st, 2024 at 91) is a notable American retired law enforcement officer and former Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety, twice. Burton had a long career in Alaska, both with local agencies and with the Alaska State Troopers and parent agency the Alaska Department of Public Safety. . Burton proudly served the state in many law enforcement positions and was one of the original Alaska State Police. Graduate of the Southern Police Institute he served on Ketchikan Police Dept. in 1954; Fairbanks PD 1958-59; Alaska State Police later renamed the Alaska State Troopers spanning decades. He was awarded National Police Commendation for Meritorious Service and a U.S. State Department medal for his time serving the Department of Justice division of USAID as a Law Enforcement Advisor in South Vietnam. After Vietnam he returned as Chief of JuneauPD before being appointed by Governor Jay S. Hammond to serve as Commissioner of Public Safety the first time in 1974, later appointed a second time by Governor Walter J. Hickel in 1991.

Burton was instrumental in molding the department from regulations to uniforms, badges and branding - into a law enforcement agency that helped make the AST moniker notorious and respected globally, and he enjoyed every minute of representing the Troopers as he served two terms as the Chairman of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). He also served as President and Vice President of the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police. In retirement, known for his expertise in taking corrective measures to revamp troubled hotspot police departments, he was hired from Warm Springs, Oregon to Nome, Alaska to Saipan in the Mariana Islands. Even in his final years he continued to contribute by serving on the Alaska Judicial Council and as an advisor to the Police Standards Council into his 80s.

Burton's devotion to law enforcement in Alaska was unrivaled. His passing is notable as an Alaskan who contributed to the formation of Alaska's law enforcement organization beginning with his first post in 1954 before statehood. He went on to oversee the Department of Public Safety that included blue shirts to brown shirts; to Village Public Safety Officers for the numerous Alaska native communities who embraced him spanning our great state. He had a life well lived and served as a founding citizen of the 49th state who literally dedicated his life to the betterment of the people of our state across remarkable geographical and cultural challenges

Dick Burton enthusiastically met the challenges of joining Alaska’s newly forming State Police before and after statehood. He relished every moment from wrestling with fisherman and loggers to acting as a family counselor at a time when other services were sparse at best. Officers in those days frequently had no back up due to remoteness.

The job suited him well because he was kind and firm, loyal and respected. This was evidenced by shows of respect like when he was one of a rare non-Natives ever invited to attend a multi-day burial ceremony of a Tyonek elder by then Chief of the Tyoneks, Agnes Brown. His respect for indigenous peoples incentivized his passion to implement the arm of the Troopers known as the VPSO program.

It was not uncommon for us to be rousted out at different times to make room and give shelter to a battered woman and her young children from Dillingham to Juneau. My siblings and I would be dispersed to a sleeping bag on our parent’s floor or on a cot in the attic. He was imposing at 6’3 but his kindness was admirable. I used to tease him that he was an original social worker

He was one of the few Commissioners of Public Safety who travelled all across the state every year to visit remote outposts, even packing up my mother in the car to head off with him because he, and in many ways my mother too, had served in those conditions and he knew how isolating it could be. It was his way of making certain that all blue shirt and brown shirt Troopers felt included and that they mattered and were not alone.

He stood up for the rule of law and would stare down anyone to defend it. He embodied the Trooper motto Loyalty – Integrity – Courage.

He is predeceased in death by his cherished wife of over 50 years, Diane R. Burton (d.2007) who herself was a real “trooper” as many wives were in those early days - transferring many times crisscrossing the state serving in cities towns and villages of Alaska and his youngest son John D. Burton (d. 1993). He is also survived by his adult children & their spouses, Karla (Burton) & Ernie Carrillo of Juneau, Alaska; Leah L. & Lori A. Burton of Ferndale, Washington; Hugh B. & Catherine Burton of Sitka, Alaska; his granddaughter, Britta (Burton) & Rich Hudson of Lummi Island, Washington; and his great-grandchildren, Audrey, Everett and Richard Hudson.}}

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