Alaska State Troopers

[Dave2]

Is it just me, or does this show depict officers violating Alaskan's civil rights? It's not every interaction or anything, but it sure seems like they kinda force themselves on citizens a lot. Maybe it's just the editing or the part where they only show the "interesting" ones.

I don't know... maybe I'm over-reacting, but some of the attitudes the police have displayed on that show bug me a bit.

[OldCannon]

Reality shows should have a disclaimer at the beginning of each show that portrayals are _adjacent to_ reality, in exactly the same way that a dead squirrel on a table would be "part of this complete breakfast."

[Excaliber]

Is it just me, or does this show depict officers violating Alaskan's civil rights? It's not every interaction or anything, but it sure seems like they kinda force themselves on citizens a lot. Maybe it's just the editing or the part where they only show the "interesting" ones.

I don't know... maybe I'm over-reacting, but some of the attitudes the police have displayed on that show bug me a bit.

I've spent some time with those folks, and I can tell you for sure a lot of things are different up there. Here are a few examples:

I asked the station commander how big his area of responsibility was in square miles. He said he honestly didn't know, but he could describe it in travel time. It was about 1 1/2 hours from the eastern edge to the western edge - in a twin engine Piper Navajo aircraft.

Number of roads connecting all the villages - zero.

Transportation methods available in most areas during late fall to late spring: aircraft and dog sled.

His total complement of officers: 6

He had local representatives (not troopers) in each village who would evaluate and report complaints to help him prioritize them.

They answer every complaint - maybe not on the same day or even in the same week, but they'd eventually get around to it.

The troopers I met were rugged, competent, compassionate, and the kind of folks I'd be happy to have working for me.

[baldeagle]

Wow! I can see why they would have to prioritize things. And I would think investigations would be very interesting. I assume the troopers work alone quite a bit, with backup "only" an hour away by plane? You'd better be pretty rugged. You're on your own.

[RoyGBiv]

Is it just me, or does this show depict officers violating Alaskan's civil rights? It's not every interaction or anything, but it sure seems like they kinda force themselves on citizens a lot. Maybe it's just the editing or the part where they only show the "interesting" ones.

I don't know... maybe I'm over-reacting, but some of the attitudes the police have displayed on that show bug me a bit.

I watch the show fairly regularly and have not formed the same opinion. Somewhat the opposite, actually.
I'll give it a more critical eye going forward though...

[gigag04]

Which civil rights did you see being violated?

[Dave2]

Which civil rights did you see being violated?

What got me thinking about it was when one of them went inside someone's home after the owner said no. Now, he could've seen or heard something that gave him probable cause and it just didn't make the final cut (in which case I'd be annoyed with the editors/producers), or maybe I'm unclear on when the police can enter your home without a warrant.

Also, the rules might be different when it's -10000000 degrees outside.

Attitude-wise, a couple of times an officer has made statements that make it almost seem like he or she is on a power trip, but again, it could easily be a trick of the editing.

It's not all the time. Mostly I've got a good impression of them.

[gigag04]

Which civil rights did you see being violated?

What got me thinking about it was when one of them went inside someone's home after the owner said no. Now, he could've seen or heard something that gave him probable cause and it just didn't make the final cut (in which case I'd be annoyed with the editors/producers), or maybe I'm unclear on when the police can enter your home without a warrant.

Also, the rules might be different when it's -10000000 degrees outside.

Attitude-wise, a couple of times an officer has made statements that make it almost seem like he or she is on a power trip, but again, it could easily be a trick of the editing.

It's not all the time. Mostly I've got a good impression of them.

Entry can be made sans warrant if exigent circumstances exist...not sure without seeing it. I usually think they do good work from what I've seen.

[Dave2]

If you're curious I'll figure out which episode and such. I believe I've decided not to worry about it, though, since nobody else is. I mean if it was as bad as I thought it might be, I'm pretty sure somebody else here would've noticed.

[AlaskanInTexas]

Lived there for a quarter century and hold the Troopers in high regard. This is especially true for those covering the Bush, where circumstances are unlike anything else in the country.

[G26ster]

For the years I flew the Alaska bush, I worked with the Alaska State Troopers occasionally and always found them to be very professional individuals with a huge task in the territory they had to cover. One thing that struck me lately though, when watching this show, was the seemingly negative reaction to folks armed with handguns in their vehicles. Alaska requires no permit for concealed or open carry, and the attitude expressed by the troopers towards armed citizens with handguns seemed surprising, and nothing like Texas. Perhaps this is due to no CHL system, so the Trooper has no idea the type of person they are dealing with, where in Texas your CHL IMO says something about your character. Not sure.

[Dadtodabone]

Alaska = Wilderness. Wilderness = Wild Animals. Wild Animals = Stainless Steel Magnum Revolver.
Bear Enjoys Moose Tartare in driveway.
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=epBIr4eDRSs[/youtube]
You'd be out of mind to live, work, travel without being armed.
Preferably with something like this;
http://www.ruger.com/products/superRedh ... odels.html

[sjfcontrol]

Wow! I can see why they would have to prioritize things. And I would think investigations would be very interesting. I assume the troopers work alone quite a bit, with backup "only" an hour away by plane? You'd better be pretty rugged. You're on your own.

It would seem to me under those circumstances, that the people would have to be pretty rugged, too. After all, when seconds count, the police are only hours (or days) away.

[Excaliber]

Alaska = Wilderness. Wilderness = Wild Animals. Wild Animals = Stainless Steel Magnum Revolver.
Bear Enjoys Moose Tartare in driveway.
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=epBIr4eDRSs[/youtube]
You'd be out of mind to live, work, travel without being armed.
Preferably with something like this;
http://www.ruger.com/products/superRedh ... odels.html

In Nome there are signs in the restaurants telling visitors how to be prepared when encountering polar bears. One of the items is "Carry weapons." When your life depends on getting things right, politically corrupt language and regressive anti survival concepts are mistakes that can't be afforded.

One can tell a lot about an area by looking at the guns on sale. The rifle selections were .22's and various models of calibers that started with 3 or 4. The .22's were for trappers to kill their catch without spoiling a lot of meat. The others were for everything else.

Interestingly I didn't see any handguns for sale. The locals have seen too much to have any confidence in their ability to make any difference in a bear attack.

[Pawpaw]

For some reason, this thread reminded me of a joke from a different forum:

The Pope in Alaska

The Pope went on vacation for a few days to visit the rugged mountains of Alaska. He was driving along the campground when he heard a frantic commotion just at the edge of the woods.

He found a helpless Democrat wearing shorts, sandals, a 'Vote for Obama' hat and a 'Save the Trees' shirt. The man was screaming and struggling frantically, thrashing all about and trying to free himself from the grasp of a 10-foot grizzly bear.

As the Pope watched in horror, a group of Republican loggers wearing "Go Sarah" shirts came racing up. One quickly fired a .44 magnum slug right into the bear's chest. The two other men pulled the semiconscious Democrat from the bear's grasp. Then using baseball bats, the three loggers finished off the bear.

Two of the men dragged the dead grizzly onto the bed of their pickup truck, while the other tenderly placed the injured Democrat in the back seat.

As they began to leave, the Pope summoned all of them over to him. "I give you my blessing for your brave actions!" he proudly proclaimed. "I have heard there was bitter hatred between Republican loggers and Democratic environmental activists, but now I've seen with my own eyes that this is not true."

As the Pope drove off, one logger asked his buddies, "Who was that guy?" "Dude, that was the Pope," another replied. "He's in direct contact with Heaven and has access to all wisdom." "Well," the logger said, "he may have access to all wisdom, but he don't know squat about bear hunting. Is the bait still alive or do we need to go back to California and get another?"