OPINION
MOORE, Justice.
Casey Jones was convicted of possession of cocaine, AS 17.10.010, and tampering with physical evidence, AS 11.56.610(a)(4). On appeal, he contended that the police obtained the evidence against him by an illegal search and seizure in violation of his rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 14 of the Alaska Constitution. He claimed that the search was illegal because the search warrant was not based on a sufficient showing of probable cause. The court of appeals agreed with Jones and reversed his conviction. Jones v. State, 681 P.2d 364 (Alaska App.1984). We affirm the court of appeals’ decision under Article I, Section 14 and Article I, Section 22 of the Alaska Constitution.1
I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
Based on information obtained from a juvenile that defendant Casey Jones was selling cocaine, the Fairbanks police applied for a warrant to search Jones’ apartment. The affidavit supporting the warrant application contained the following statement:
1. That your affiant is a detective with the City of Fairbanks Police Department.
2. That B.V., a juvenile, whose name may be obtained through proper motion to the court, told your affiant that on June 12,1982, B.V. went with [320]*320another individual to Casey Jones’ apartment located in ■ Story Apartments at 119 Bridget Street in Fairbanks where B.Y.’s companion purchased one half gram of cocaine.
3. B.Y. stated to your affiant that he has been to Jones’ apartment ten to fifteen times when he or his companions have purchased cocaine from Jones in the past few months.
4. That B.V. pointed out the entrance to Jones’ apartment as the door on the northwest corner of the building at 119 Bridget Street, a multi-unit apartment building, said door leading down to Jones’ apartment. The name Story Apartments appears on the front of the building. B.V. stated that Jones has a set of triple-beam scales that he uses for measuring cocaine in the apartment.
5. Officer Frank Colletta of the Metro Unit in Fairbanks told your affiant today that the entrance as described by B.V. is the entrance to Casey L. Jones’ apartment.
6. That in my experience with the Metro Unit in Fairbanks, records of drug transactions, substantial U.S. currency and drug paraphernalia are often present in the residences of persons who sell cocaine.
7. Your affiant has eighteen months experience investigating drug cases with Metro Team, Fairbanks.
After the execution of this search warrant, Jones was indicted for possession of cocaine, sale of cocaine and tampering with physical evidence. He was subsequently convicted of possession of cocaine and tampering with physical evidence. The court of appeals reversed his conviction, because it believed that the affidavit provided insufficient information “to enable a magistrate to independently determine probable cause under either current federal law, see Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983), or former law as enunciated in Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969), and Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964).” Jones at 365.
II. THE GATES TOTALITY OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES APPROACH
In Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723, the magistrate issued a search warrant based on the following affidavit:
Affiants have received reliable information from a credible person and do believe that heroin, marijuana, barbituates and other narcotic and narcotic paraphernalia are being kept at the above described premises for the purpose of sale and use contrary to the provisions of the law.
Id. at 109, 84 S.Ct. at 1511, 12 L.Ed.2d at 725. The Supreme Court reversed the defendant’s conviction because the affidavit did not provide a sufficient basis for a finding of probable cause. The Court required that:
The magistrate must be informed of some of the underlying circumstances from which the informant concluded that the narcotics were where he claimed they were, and some of the underlying circumstances from which the officer concluded that the informant ... was “credible” or his information “reliable”.
Id. at 114-15, 84 S.Ct. at 1513-14, 12 L.Ed.2d at 729. Therefore, the two-pronged test required that the affidavit establish (1) the informant’s basis of knowledge, and (2) the informant’s credibility or the reliability of his information.
The U.S. Supreme Court modified the Aguilar test in Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637. For the first prong requiring basis of knowledge, the Court allowed some detailed tips from informants to be self-verifying.
In the absence of a statement detailing the manner in which the information was gathered, it is especially important that the tip describe the accused’s criminal activity in sufficient detail that the magistrate may know that he is relying on [321]*321something more substantial than a casual rumor circulating in the underworld or an accusation based merely on an individual’s general reputation.
Id. at 416, 89 S.Ct. at 589, 21 L.Ed.2d at 644. In addition, independent police corroboration of details in the informant’s tip could establish the informant’s credibility or the reliability of his information under the second prong. Id. at 417, 89 S.Ct. at 589, 21 L.Ed.2d at 644.
In construing provisions of the Alaska Constitution similar to the United States Constitution, we give careful consideration to the holdings of the United States Supreme Court, although we are not bound by them. State v. Glass, 583 P.2d 872, 876 (Alaska 1978). Thus, we have followed the Aguilar-Spinelli analysis in cases involving both the Fourth Amendment and Article I, Section 14 of the Alaska Constitution. See, e.g., Keller v. State, 543 P.2d 1211 (Alaska 1975) (adopting under our state constitution Aguilar-Spinelli’s requirement that an affidavit establish both informant’s basis of knowledge and his veracity), Harrelson v. State, 516 P.2d 390, 394-95 (Alaska 1973) (rejecting in part United States v. Harris, 403 U.S. 573, 91 S.Ct. 2075, 29 L.Ed.2d 723 (1971) and requiring affidavit to specify the underlying circumstances to allow a magistrate to independently assess an informant’s veracity).
In Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983), the United States Supreme Court abandoned the Aguilar-Spinelli two-pronged test in favor of a “totality of the circumstances” approach. Under this .approach,
[t]he task of the issuing magistrate is simply to make a practical, commonsense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit before him, including the “veracity” and “basis of knowledge” of persons supplying hearsay information, there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place.
103 S.Ct. at 2332, 76 L.Ed.2d at 548. The sole task of a reviewing court is simply to ensure that the magistrate had a substantial basis for concluding that probable cause existed. Id. The state asks us to apply the Gates test under the state as well as the federal constitution to uphold the search warrant in this case. We decline this request. As the Washington Supreme Court stated regarding the Gates test:
Prior reliance on federal precedent and federal constitutional provisions [does] not preclude us from taking a more expansive view of [the state constitution] where the United States Supreme Court determines to further limit federal guaranties in a manner inconsistent with our prior pronouncements.
State v. Jackson, 102 Wash.2d 432, 688 P.2d 136, 140-41 (1984).2 Similarly, we may construe Alaska’s constitutional provisions such as Article I, Section 14 as affording additional rights to those granted by the United States Supreme Court under the federal constitution. State v. Glass, 583 P.2d at 876 n. 12.
The Supreme Court offered several reasons for abandoning the Aguilar-Spinelli test. The Court asserted (1) that probable cause is a fluid concept involving an assess[322]*322ment of probabilities in a particular factual context, rather than a neat set of legal rules, 103 S.Ct. at 2328, 76 L.Ed.2d at 544; (2) that the “basis of knowledge” and “veracity” elements of the Aguilar-Spinelli test should not be accorded independent status “so that a deficiency in one may be compensated for, in determining the overall reliability of a tip, by a strong showing as to the other, or by some other indicia of reliability,” id. at 2329, 76 L.Ed.2d at 545; (3) that affidavits are normally drafted by nonlawyers and “issued on the basis of nontechnical, common-sense judgments of laymen,” id. at 2330, 76 L.Ed.2d at 546; (4) that a court’s scrutiny of the sufficiency of an affidavit should not take the form of de novo review, id. at 2331, 76 L.Ed.2d at 547; (5) that if courts subject affidavits to greater scrutiny, police may resort to warrant-less searches “with the hope of relying on consent or some other exception to the warrant clause that might develop at the time of the search,” id.) and (6) that rigorous application of the Aguilar-Spinelli requirements will impede the task of law enforcement, diminishing the value of anonymous tips in police work. Id. at 2331-32, 76 L.Ed.2d at 547-48.
These propositions do not persuade us that we should abandon the Aguilar-Spinelli test under Article I, Section 14 of the Alaska Constitution. As for proposition (1), the two-pronged test has not reduced probable cause to a neat, artificial set of legal rules. “Rather, the two-pronged test simply provided a structure for probable cause inquiries, and if not rigidly applied, allowed sufficient room for assessment of the unique facts of the particular case.”3 We find Justice Brennan’s defense of Aguilar-Spinelli persuasive:
Aguilar and Spinelli require the police to provide magistrates with certain crucial information. They also provide structure for magistrates’ probable cause inquiries. In so doing, Aguilar and Spinelli preserve the role of magistrates as independent arbiters of probable cause, insure greater accuracy in probable cause determinations, and advance the substantive value of precluding findings of probable cause, and attendant intrusions, based on anything less than information from an honest or credible person who has acquired his information in a reliable way.
Gates, 103 S.Ct. at 2357, 76 L.Ed.2d at 580 (Brennan, J., dissenting).
We have also emphasized the independent role of a magistrate in the determination of probable cause. Moreau v. State, 588 P.2d 275, 281 (Alaska 1978). When an affidavit relies upon the assertion of a confidential informant to establish probable cause, the affiant must set forth sufficient facts to enable the magistrate to assess the informant’s probable credibility. “Only if this requirement is met can a reviewing court be certain that the magistrate has fulfilled his constitutional duty to render an independent determination that probable cause exists.” Keller v. State, 543 P.2d at 1216.
As for proposition (2), a strong showing on one prong should not overcome a deficiency in the other prong. For example, we have held that a sufficiently detailed tip could support an inference of an informant’s personal knowledge under the “basis of knowledge” prong. Davis v. State, 499 P.2d 1025, 1029 (Alaska 1972), rev’d on other grounds, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974). However, a detailed description by itself sheds no light on an informant’s veracity. “If the informant were concocting a story out of whole cloth, he could fabricate in fine detail as easily as with rough brush strokes.” Stanley v. State, 19 Md.App. 507, 313 A.2d 847, 862 (1974).
Conversely, a strong showing of the informant’s veracity does not compensate for a failure to explain how the informant reached his conclusions. “Truthful persons [323]*323can be the bearers of hearsay, rumor, gossip, or bare conclusions, as surely as can be liars.” State v. Jackson, 688 P.2d at 142. Without a requirement of an adequate basis of knowledge, the magistrate may mistakenly rely on “a casual rumor circulating in the underworld or an accusation based merely on an individual’s general reputation” in making a probable cause determination. Keller v. State, 543 P.2d at 1218 (quoting Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. at 416, 89 S.Ct. at 589, 21 L.Ed. at 637).
In proposition (3), the Supreme Court notes that nonlawyers often draft affidavits in the haste of criminal investigation. In Keller, we stated:
The purpose of the warrant requirement is to prevent the police from hasty, ill-advised, or unreasonable actions in “the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime.”
Id. at 1219 (quoting Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10,14, 68 S.Ct. 367, 369, 92 L.Ed. 436, 440 (1948)). “Because nonlaw-yers are so often involved in the initial probable cause determination, there is a need for a test that provides more guidance than a totality of circumstances approach.” 4 As Justice White states in his concurring opinion, it will often be a difficult question whether a particular anonymous tip provides the basis for issuing a warrant. However, rather than “totally abdicating our responsibility in this area,” we should “attempt to provide more precise guidance” for the police and magistrates. Gates, 103 S.Ct. at 2350, 76 L.Ed.2d at 571 (White, J., concurring).5
Proposition (4) states that a court should not undertake a de novo review of the sufficiency of the warrant. Under Alaska law, a magistrate’s initial determination of probable cause is given considerable deference. The resolution of doubtful or marginal cases should be largely determined by the preference accorded to warrants. Johnson v. State, 617 P.2d 1117, 1122 (Alaska 1980); Lockwood v. State, 591 P.2d 969, 970-71 (Alaska 1979). Therefore, proposition (4) merely reiterates the present state of the law in Alaska.
We find proposition (5) equally unpersuasive. Under Alaska law, there has been a strong preference for the warrant process. We have previously stated:
the principle of antecedent justification is so central to the Fourth Amendment that subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions “searches conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by judge or magistrate, are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.”
McCoy v. State, 491 P.2d 127, 132 (Alaska 1971) (quoting Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 514, 19 L.Ed.2d 576, 585 (1967)). See also Keller v. State, 543 P.2d at 1219-20; Reeves v. State, 599 P.2d 727, 735 (Alaska 1979) (expressing strong preference for the warrant process under the state constitution).
Finally, in proposition (6), the Gates majority asserted that rigid application of the two-pronged test could seriously impede law enforcement by diminishing the value of anonymous tips in police work. In part, the United States Supreme Court was probably influenced by the Illinois court’s appli[324]*324cation of the Aguilar-Spinelli test. The Illinois Supreme Court held that police corroboration of details in an anonymous letter could never satisfy the “veracity” prong, especially if only innocent details were corroborated. Gates, 103 S.Ct. at 2327, 76 L.Ed.2d at 543.
In contrast, however, Alaska case law reflects a flexible application of the Aguilar-Spinelli test. For example, in Schmid v. State, 615 P.2d 565 (Alaska 1980), police corroboration of details provided by a confidential informant sufficiently established probable cause. We rejected the defendant’s argument that police should verify an incriminating fact before corroboration could be used to demonstrate an informant’s credibility, because this “would severely limit the use of informants to provide probable cause.” Id. at 577. See also Kralick v. State, 647 P.2d 1120, 1123-24 (Alaska App.1982) (magistrate could conclude that informant’s tip was based on his personal observations because the tip’s information was sufficiently detailed to support an inference of personal knowledge. Additionally, the informant’s credibility was demonstrated by police observations). Under Alaska law, the anonymous tip continues to play an important role in police work.6
III. ANALYSIS OF AFFIDAVITS UNDER THE ALASKA CONSTITUTION
After carefully reviewing the majority’s reasoning in Gates, we conclude that the Gates totality of the circumstances approach does not provide the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures required by Article 1, Section 14 and Article 1, Section 22 of the Alaska Constitution.7 In previous cases, we have stated that the state constitutional guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures is broader in scope than Fourth Amendment guarantees under the United States Constitution. In part, this broader protection results from the more extensive right of privacy guaranteed by Article I, Section 22 of our state constitution. Reeves v. State, 599 P.2d at 734. Therefore, we must test the validity of the affidavit in this case under Alaska’s constitutional guarantees.
When a search warrant is based on the hearsay statement of a confidential informant, the affiant must establish the informant’s basis of knowledge and veracity. To establish the informant’s basis of knowledge, the information must be based on the informant’s personal observations, not his suspicions or beliefs. Davis v. State, 499 P.2d at 1029. If the affidavit lacks an affirmative allegation of the informant’s personal knowledge, “the facts supplied must be so detailed as to support an inference of personal knowledge.” Id.; see Keller v. State, 543 P.2d at 1217.
Additionally, the affiant must inform the magistrate or judge of some of the underlying circumstances that led the affiant to conclude that the informant was [325]*325credible or that his information was reliable. Davis at 1029. An informant’s veracity may be established by demonstrating his past reliability, or by independent police corroboration of detailed facts in the informant’s story. Schmid v. State, 615 P.2d at 575, 577. See also Keller v. State, 543 P.2d 1211; Draper v. United States, 358 U.S. 307, 79 S.Ct. 329, 3 L.Ed.2d 327 (1959). The personal identity and involvement of the informant may also establish his veracity. Davis, 499 P.2d at 1029.8 When information is provided by a citizen informer rather than an informant from the criminal milieu, there is less need to establish a citizen informer’s credibility.9 It is sufficient that police verify some of the details of the information provided by a citizen informer. Erickson v. State, 507 P.2d 508, 517-18 (Alaska 1973). Finally, an informant’s admission against his penal interest may be sufficient to establish his veracity in certain circumstances. Fleener v. State, 686 P.2d 730, 732-33 (Alaska App.1984); State v. Malkin, 678 P.2d 1356, 1359-60 and n. 4 (Alaska App.1984), petition for hearing granted (Alaska, May 7, 1984); Hubert v. State, 638 P.2d 677, 686 (Alaska App.1981); cf. Clark v. State, 704 P.2d 799, 804, 805 (Alaska App.1985).10
We now proceed to test the affidavit in this case to assess whether it properly established the confidential informant’s basis of knowledge and veracity. To satisfy the first prong, the affidavit states that the informant B.V. had personal knowledge of Jones’ drug dealing through his own purchases. We conclude that the basis of knowledge prong was adequately demonstrated. Morris v. State, 473 P.2d 603, 605 (Alaska 1970).
However, the affidavit does not satisfy the second prong of the test because it does not properly establish the informant’s veracity. The affiant does not contend that B.V. provided reliable information in the past. Nor does the affidavit state that the police conducted an independent investigation to corroborate the accuracy of B.V.’s contention that Jones was a cocaine dealer. A mere confirmation that Jones actually lived in the apartment indicated by B.V. does not qualify as independent corroboration by the police. See Clark v. State, 704 P.2d at 804. B.V.’s tip, standing alone, could not establish probable cause. However, the police could have used the tip to further their investigation into Jones’ activities.11
On the issue of statements against penal interest, the court of appeals did not regard B.V.’s statements as inherently credible. First, the court noted that it is not a crime to be present when someone else is purchasing cocaine. Second, vague admissions about past purchases of cocaine would not support a criminal prosecution absent evidence of a specific purchase. The court also stated:
More significantly, the affidavit does not explain the circumstances under which B.V.’s statements were made. If B.V. was being prosecuted by juvenile authorities for drug transactions unrelated to Casey Jones, he would hardly view his statement that he had purchased cocaine in the past from Jones as increasing his exposure to criminal sanctions.
Jones v. State, 681 P.2d at 365.
We require that the police provide full disclosure of all relevant circumstances so that a magistrate can independently as[326]*326sess the significance of an informant’s admission against penal interest in the context of each case.12 See United States v. Harris, 403 U.S. at 598, 91 S.Ct. at 2089, 29 L.Ed.2d at 742 (Harlan, J., dissenting) (Fourth Amendment requires that conclusion of probable cause be drawn from underlying facts and circumstances by the magistrate, not the police); cf. Keller v. State, 543 P.2d at 1216; LaFave, supra note 3, at 525. In this case, the affidavit did not contain sufficient detail to allow an independent assessment by a magistrate. B.V. could be a protected police informant, whose statements are not inherently reliable because he does not need to fear the threat of prosecution. Clark v. State, 704 P.2d at 805. See also LaFave, supra note 3, at 526. B.V. may have recently been arrested for possession of drugs when he admitted to purchases from various sources in the recent past. “Such a generalized and unfocused set of allegations might well be nothing more than a series of falsehoods involving the names of several persons he has heard it rumored use or sell narcotics, for he could well anticipate that if the police act upon the information they will likely discover narcotics at some of the identified premises.” LaFave, supra note 3, at 529. See e.g., United States v. Harris, 403 U.S. at 595, 91 S.Ct. at 2087, 29 L.Ed.2d at 740 (Harlan, J., dissenting) (rationale for rule of statements against penal interest does not apply in a case in which government informant expects immunity from prosecution in return for his statements); United States v. Martin, 615 F.2d 318, 325-26 (5th Cir.1980); People v. Horton, 74 Ill.App.3d 293, 30 Ill.Dec. 181, 183-84, 392 N.E.2d 946, 948-49 (1979).
The affidavit provided the only evidence for the magistrate to determine probable cause in this case. In determining the validity of a search warrant, a reviewing court may consider only information brought to the issuing magistrate’s attention. Morris v. State, 473 P.2d at 605. It is imperative under the Alaska Constitution that the magistrate be presented with adequate supporting facts so that he can independently test the confidential informant’s basis of knowledge and veracity.13 Only if these requirements are met “can a reviewing court be certain that the magistrate has fulfilled his constitutional duty to render an independent determination that probable cause exists.” Keller v. State, 543 P.2d at 1216.
In this case, the magistrate did not have sufficient information in the affidavit to make a reasoned decision to issue the search warrant. Consequently, the warrant was improperly issued and the fruits of the search must be suppressed.
The decision of the court of appeals reversing the superior court is hereby AFFIRMED on the basis of the Alaska Constitution.