Original subtitles

- Your average alaskan isn't your average joe

you might find in the lower 48.

- (beep) off me, dude! - Stop, dude.

- Policing in fairbanks, you're bound to run into

the same individuals multiple times.

- People here want to live their life by their rules,

and they can get wild.

- What'd you take tonight?

- [male officer] some tin foil down here on the floor.

- [suspect] she locked me out of the house twice.

- [male officer] now he gets booked.

- Ma'am?

Ma'am!

(ice cracking)

(bear roaring)

- [dispatcher] 80 to 25-14.

(sirens wailing)

- [officer] hands behind your back.

(gun firing)

(light calm music)

(ice cracking)

(intense music)

- there is quite the cast of characters

that law enforcement in alaska deals with on a daily basis.

People feel isolated up here, they feel holed up

and that's when things go haywire sometimes.

(door clicking)

drop the bat, hands behind your back.

Hands behind your back, dude.

- [suspect] hey!

- [officer] hands behind your back, dude!

- Hey! - Come on.

- You guys arresting me?

- [officer] no, I don't wanna arrest you.

(suspect screams)

- you can't have a bottle like that in your pocket, okay?

You know that.

- Man, I ain't started (beep), you hear me bro?

It just appeared there.

- It just appeared there?

- Uh huh.

- [officer] put him down, we'll hobble him.

- There's nothing like the people in alaska.

My name is peyton merideth.

I'm the patrol sergeant

with fairbanks police department.

(digital beeping)

(upbeat music)

I've been a police officer in interior alaska,

this is my 20th year.

We're in the middle of alaska, got a mountain range

to the north, the south major river systems all around us.

We are isolated.

The problem that most people have up here

is the cold in the winter, and the isolation.

And I think that's what gets people.

(engine purring) (ice cracking)

(siren wailing)

- dispatch dispatched officer broady to a fight.

(dramatic music)

- drop the bat.

Hey, you take your hands out of your pockets right now.

Out of your pockets!

Stay put.

Out of your pockets!

You stay right here.

Hands behind your back.

Hands behind your back, dude!

- [suspect] hey!

- Hands behind your back, dude, come on!

- [suspect] get the (beep) off me!

(sirens wailing)

oh!

- Okay, we've got officer broady dealing

with a bunch of troublemakers here.

After you drop a baseball bat--

- [suspect] get the (beep) away from me, dude!

- [officer broady] and I tell you

to place your hands behind your back, this is what happens.

- (beep) off me, dude! - Stop, dude.

Stop it, dude.

- What the (beep).

- Which pocket is your reg in?

- My, get the (beep) off me, dude.

- Which pocket is your reg in?

- Get you a put the (beep) out, man.

- Which pocket is it in?

- Left side, let me pull it out.

- You're not pulling it out.

- [officer broady] I'm gonna roll you on your other side.

- [suspect] all right, it's on my other side.

- [officer broady] that's what I'm doing.

- [suspect] all right.

- This pocket, right? - (beep) get you, then,

(beep) everything (beep). - There it is.

- [suspect] (beep) you guys.

Man, I ain't started (beep).

- Fairbanks is a very transient population.

We're a hub right in the center of the state.

So you meet all kinds

of transient people in and out of this town.

- [sergeant meredith] did you see what

happened here tonight?

- [witness] no, I just got here.

- It's important that we get a situation like this

under control as soon as possible.

If we don't, it escalates,

it becomes more dangerous for everyone involved.

Are you involved in this at all?

- Yeah.

- [sergeant meredith] do you have your id with you?

That would help things move along, man.

These guys don't care about authority.

They'll push until they can't push anymore.

- Stand up. - Uh-huh.

- [officer broady] stand up.

- [suspect] yeah, I didn't do anything!

- [officer broady] all right.

Dude.

Really, dude, you're about to get dumped again!

- [suspect] I know but I don't--

- [officer broady] geez, man, get up!

Get up! - Hey, everybody,

albert'll be famous!

- [officer] look, man, hold on, hold on, hold on.

(drum beating)

get off my leg, man.

- [suspect] help!

- [officer] put him down, we'll hobble him.

- [suspect] help!

I'm pressing charges on every one of you cops!

(snow crunching) (zipper zipping)

- [sergeant meredith] let's get him outta here

and let's get him to jail.

- [suspect] sir!

- [officer] best we can, yup, there we go.

We got it under control, thankfully,

but they don't know us

and they don't wanna comply with us.

Sometimes it's necessary to get a little physical.

Okay, let's get him in there.

- People that we encounter, there is really something

unique about them compared to people in the lower 48.

I think that's something that makes alaska unique,

and I think that's part of the reason

why people love living here.

- Aren't you guys arresting me, too?

- No, I don't wanna arrest you,

but you can't have a bottle like that in your pocket okay?

You know that.

- It just appeared there!

- It just appeared there?

- Uh-huh.

- Oh, man, I wish the-- - yeah, it did!

- I wish the appear fairy would show up for me

every once in a while.

(dramatic music)

(ice cracking)

(digital beeping)

(guitar riffs) (ice cracking)

- so living here in kodiak,

there's one thing I've come to realize.

And that is people here like to live

their lives freer (gun firing)

than most other people.

My name is mike sortor,

I'm a sergeant with the kodiak police department,

and I've been with the department now 10 years.

We're a commercial fishing hub on an island,

and it's a melting pot of about 6,000 people.

Very, very diverse people.

- Kodiak, alaska, best place to be.

- They wanna live their life in a different way.

They wanna live their life predominantly by their rules

and not beholden to others.

You have to be a responsible person to handle that freedom.

But if not, then maybe it's not the place for you.

(ice cracking)

- [dispatcher] 22, please respond

to a possible domestic violence call.

Caller requests that gary was seen arguing

with his girlfriend at the mall.

They are unsure if a physical altercation occurred.

- [sergeant sortor] both these two we frequently contact.

(gear clicking)

okay, here we go.

Looking for gary.

It's not uncommon for us to come down here

and find him causing trouble.

You seen gary?

- [man in coat] no.

(engine purring)

- [sergeant sortor] you see gary?

Loud gary, from downtown?

- [shopkeeper] no, I haven't seen him in a while yet.

- Okay, cool, thanks.

(door squeaking)

(tires crunching)

(door slamming)

hoo!

- Yeah, somebody gettin'-- - smoking with the,

smoke in it. - Gettin' high!

- Yeah, smoking a lot of weed in there.

We'll try over here, across the street,

if not, then I don't know where he went.

- [officer ramos] is that him?

- [sergeant sortor] right height, yeah, that'd be him.

Gary!

What's up, amigo?

- What's up with you?

- [sergeant sortor] what happened with (beep),

why you guys get in a fight?

- We didn't get in a fight, we exchanged words

and I walked away.

- [sergeant sortor] any point come

where you pushed her down?

- No!

- [sergeant sortor] you didn't push her down?

- I never touch her, she lives with me, I love her!

I didn't push her down!

Oh my god, I just went through this (beep) with her

for two months with the court, for a dv and assault (beep)!

She lives with me!

- I know, that's why I see-- - I take care of her!

- Well, so she's saying she got pushed down.

- Oh, come on!

Really?

- Yeah, really, that's what she said.

Did you talk to (beep), mr. Parker?

- No, I didn't.

- [sergeant sortor] we have no other witnesses

that watched gary push her down?

- [officer inaldo] no.

- This time, we're gonna give you a

disorderly conduct advisement.

It means you have to go. - Yes.

- Yes. - Yes, I will go home.

- [officer sortor] all right, gary.

Keep it calm for the rest of the night, 'kay?

'cause you know-- - I'm gonna go home.

- All right, 'kay.

- We can't substantiate any assault did occur,

we don't know if it does,

but they are repeat offenders here.

They do drink a lot of alcohol.

We both gave them advisements,

and we'll be on our way.

- [officer sortor] he's actually not

too bad drunk. - Yeah.

- You can smell it, but that's--

- [officer ramos] he can walk straight, though.

- That's like good for gary.

That's not like insane gary drunk.

So...

- [officer ramos] oh (beep)!

There goes gary!

- [officer sortor] yup.

- [female officer] not going home.

- [officer sortor] gary!

Well, now he gets booked.

(intense music) (wind blowing)

(calm music)

(digital beeping)

(ice cracking)

-[ramos] gary!

(feet thudding)

- [gary] no!

- [officer sortor] gary, go home!

Go home, now!

- What? - Go home!

- I'm going home!

- [officer sortor] go home!

Pretty much what they're doing

is just kind of antagonizing one another to a fight.

So for the state of alaska,

that kinda fits in our statute for disorderly conduct.

So I went ahead and gave both of them an advisement,

pretty much go home, calm down,

don't try to fight anyone or each other.

- [woman] yeah!

- [gary] shut up!

Come on, come on!

- [woman] no, I'm reading!

They're trying

to get you, gary! - Sorry, I'm still

watching those two.

It's a case of he said, she said.

In this case, we weren't able to determine

probably cause that an assault did occur.

In the end, we just had to let gary go home.

(digital beeping)

(upbeat music)

(snowmobile engine roaring)

(ice cracking)

- fairbanks pd encounters a lot of interesting people.

The personalities, they run the gambit up here in alaska.

Get out of the road!

- [sergeant meredith] what's all that about yelling

and screaming and bumping around coming from up here?

- [older woman] I'm just waking up.

- [younger woman] probably all the sex.

- [older woman] I'm just waking up.

- [sergeant meredith] that's horrifying.

Ma'am, are you...

What are you doing, ma'am?

(ice cracking)

(keys tapping)

kicked and broke the doors, and is stating

that he'll fight the police when they arrive.

(radio beeping) - 10-4.

Not all calls are life and death situations, thankfully.

But sometimes the challenge is dealing with the fact

that people are just quirky up here.

(door thudding)

(feet crunching) (ice cracking)

- did you get a haircut?

You know, sometimes you just wanna show up to a call,

get the information you need, resolve the issue,

and move on to the next call.

Doesn't always work out that way.

(plate clinking)

- [woman] hi, guys.

- Hello.

- How are you? - Good.

What's going on tonight?

- Yeah, no, it's always a problem with this guy

that I let come in here.

He had got mad, I dunno if he was doing drugs

while I was at work, but I told him I didn't want him

in my house anymore while I work.

Because I smelled some type of stuff that wasn't weed.

Oh my gosh, am I on tv?

Hello, guys!

Who's that back there?

- What's his last name?

She's with these guys,

what's his last name? - Oh, bordeaux, good.

(woman chuckling)

and I got another phone that he had sent the threats

of him telling me that he's about to kick my door in,

but nobody wanted to come here

'cause he was trying to kill my cat.

And another phone,

which is dead. (cat meows)

and...

- Who is he to you?

- Oh, he was my best friend from the village.

He had came back and I guess started doing drugs

with my ex-boyfriend.

And he's 60, probably 67, I was with him for four years.

- 'kay.

- But I introduced them probably like two years ago.

Come on, baby. (cat meowing)

- I think he was walking toward one of 'em and I wanted--

- baby, come here. (cat meowing)

come on.

Yeah, he's not, it's just that--

- what about starting over today again?

- I don't know.

- [blond officer] he's saying--

- we drunk a beer when we were chilling

with someone in college.

We drunk a beer, we--

- you guys didn't argue, or nothing?

- No, we argued, we talked about my ex

that we were both dating.

And I was telling him how my ex was bad for us

and now we're both--

- who's your ex?

- (beep) c., 67 year old man now.

I was with for four years.

And he started dating--

- and who's the person that broke the door?

- His boyfriend, now.

- Oh, okay. - So, (beep) and (beep)

are in a relationship?

- Yes,now.

- Okay, you can see why we're asking

these questions, 'cause...

- [woman] yeah, yeah.

- That was new, you didn't say that before, right?

- Oh. - So it's hard to figure

out exactly what happened.

That's the only reason why I was asking

the question. - Yeah.

- We're gonna go see if we can find this guy, okay?

- Yeah. - But I don't think

it's a dv criminal.

- It's not. - Okay.

- Okay. - All right.

- All right.

Hi, guys!

- [sergeant meredith] unbelievable.

- I'm a little confused.

- You are?

(officer laughing)

- this guy is dating her ex-boyfriend?

- Yes, this guy is dating her 67-year-old ex-boyfriend.

But she has no dv relationship with this guy.

There's a quiz on this later.

(door closing)

oh my gosh!

What just happened? (sergeant meredith laughing)

(quirky music) (wind blowing)

(dogs barking)

- alaskans are definitely a special breed.

It takes a special person to say, "I definitely wanna

"live somewhere where the cold can kill me in minutes."

and then go out and play in it.

(officer laughing)

- alaska!

- Woohoo!

- I do love this place and the people that live here.

(ice cracking)

- all right, so right now, we're going

to a male that's causing a disturbance out in public.

We've actually dealt with him already, twice today.

So this'll be the third time.

Put your hands behind your back.

(beep) is an individual that we deal with quite frequently.

Zip your pants up, 'cause people are saying

that your junk's coming out. (man sighing)

he has been aggressive in the past.

Put your hands behind your back now!

- Yeah, he foamin' at the mouth.

(head thudding)

- (beep) isn't a bad guy, he's just fallen into drug abuse

and fledgling mental health system.

(ice cracking)

we're gonna make contact with him and see what's going on,

number one, and number two, it sounds like he's actually

making his way towards a residence he's required

by law to stay 500 feet away from.

So we're gonna try to head him off before he does that.

- [dispatcher] 12, 85.

(radio beeping) - 07, 01, I'm gonna

start walking. (snow crunching)

07, 01, I don't see him under the bridge.

(dramatic music)

there he is, right there.

- [suspect] anywhere from 500 feet, what did I do?

- [officer dewaele] 07, 01, contact.

- If I know it! - Hey, (beep)!

(intense music)

(ice cracking)

you're 500 feet away your fence?

- [officer dewaele] I know, you're under arrest.

- Violating conditions of release.

- You are 500 feet.

- Yeah.

- Are these needles?

- [officer dewaele] it feels like a needle to me.

- It's on him.

- Dealing with the same person

day in and day out can be frustrating,

but ultimately, you just have to remember

that they're people, too.

- We're gonna go over here to my car, okay?

- Are you going with him?

- Yeah, I'll walk there.

- You have to have patience with people like (beep)

or else it's gonna get to ya.

It definitely tests me, that's for sure.

But that's what policing in alaska can do to people.

(snow crunching)

(wind blowing) (ice cracking)

- this job requires a lot of patience.

Some people are just trying to get under your skin,

sometimes people just want you to hear their problems.

That's why we definitely look for officers

that were able to speak with people

or able to calm a situation down,

are something that you really can't teach.

(guitar music)

(ice cracking)

- this is officer zenyuch, fairbanks police.

I've been assigned, I guess you called in,

somebody's been making some threats?

Oh, your ex-boyfriend is making threats?

- [caller] yes.

- I'll go over there,

I'll try to make contact.

(slow intense music)

this guy hasn't done anything illegal,

but I still wanna go talk to him,

make sure it stays that way.

(sirens wailing)

(snow crunching)

(door knocking) (dogs barking)

hello. - Hey, hey, hey!

- Is--

- quit barking!

(woman grunting) come on, in the house!

(dogs barking) in the house, in the house!

Why is the gate open?

- [officer zenyuch] is (beep) here?

(dogs barking) - yes.

Can I ask what this is about?

- [officer zenyuch] I just need to talk to him.

- Toga, come!

- It's because they didn't close the freakin' gate!

- [officer zenyuch] let me come over here talk to ya

so I'm not yelling.

(dog barking)

- [man] let me put my dog in there.

- So I come here to talk to (beep).

Your dogs were inside the house at the time.

Are you (beep)?

- No, I'm not. - Okay.

- You left my gate open. - So the dogs

are inside the house.

- [officer zenyuch] when I knocked on the door,

were the dogs inside the house?

I apologize for leaving your gate open,

but nobody said close the gate when I went through the gate.

- [man] usually if you open a gate, you shut a gate.

That's how it works, if you--

- well, normally I don't.

- It's normal. - Okay.

You're right, officer, I'm sorry.

If you're here for (beep), he might be inside.

- Thank you. - Yup.

(snow crunching)

(gate creaking)

(dog barking) - (beep) toga, too.

- Hey!

Why are you here?

- Why am I here? - Winston!

- [suspect] yes, sir.

- [officer zenyuch] why do you think I'm here?

- I have no idea.

- I'm here 'cause of your ex.

Are you making threats to your ex?

- No.

- Why would she call us saying you're making threats to her?

To burn the house down?

- You came over here for no (beep) reason.

- So this guy hasn't done anything illegal.

But he clearly isn't happy with me.

It's my job to stay calm without getting him all worked up.

I'm not saying you made any threats,

I'm not saying you've contacted her or anything like that.

What you need to do is go to the court,

handle it the legal way.

- [suspect] dude, you came over here for no (beep) reason.

This is (beep).

- Okay.

Well, I guess have a better evening then.

(gate clicking) (gate squeaking)

everybody's amped up for some reason over there.

(digital beeping) (wind blowing)

- a lot of people come to alaska and places like kodiak

because they're remote and it's a good place to escape.

They're trying to hide at the end of the world.

- [suspect] man, take these

cuffs off. - No.

I'll fight every one of you (beep)!

- Just relax, bud. (beep) you.

- [all officers] on the ground!

(woman screaming)

- [officer] get on the ground!

- That's when you realize that we deal

with some really, really dangerous people.

They can get wild.

(upbeat music)

(ice cracking)

- 10-4.

A female and a male down here on the road,

he's trying to get her in the vehicle,

and she's crying, not wanting to.

So sounds like possible assault.

Hold on a second (radio chattering)

turn the light off.

It looks like we got him here.

I got a vehicle leaving, female walking down the road.

I'm gonna go contact the vehicle.

- [dispatcher] copy.

- [officer gebert] headquarters, 17, I'll be out.

(gear clicking) (door creaking)

hello, sir.

Hey, I'm officer gebert.

Hey, is that you, (beep)? - Yeah.

- [officer gebert] hey, man, how ya doin'?

- [suspect] doing well, how are you?

- [officer gebert] we just got a report that there might be

possibly some sort of an altercation

going on between you guys.

Is everything okay?

- [suspect] could you not point that right at my eyes?

- [officer gebert] okay, I'm sorry.

Trying not to blind you here. - Yeah.

- Is there gonna be any dv issues with you guys?

- No.

- Okay.

So I keep bringing my light in and out of your eyes

and your eyes are not reacting normally, okay?

I'm gonna have to ask ya if you'd be willing

to do some field sobriety tests.

- Shoot me straight here, man.

What'd you take tonight?

(ice cracking)

I'm very passionate about my job and I'm very passionate

about keeping the drug-impaired drivers off the streets.

(ice cracking)

I am a dre, which is a drug recognition expert.

Dre is somebody that has specialized training

in recognizing drug impairment.

(ice cracking)

that's been kinda my tool

I've used to help combat the growing drug problem.

Not only in the state,

but more specifically in my community.

19, 17.

(door creaking) (door thudding)

I could tell, based off of the way he's acting

that he's definitely not in a normal state right now.

So he's not wanting to do field sobriety tests right away.

- [officer] he's not?

- No, you wanna to take a look over

and see if he got-- - yup.

Any paraphernalia or anything? - Go ahead.

- And I just wanna make sure that you are okay to drive.

I'm telling you man, your pupils are not reacting normally.

- [officer] some tinfoil down here.

- [officer gebert] you sure you don't

wanna do field sobriety tests?

- [suspect] yes, sir.

- [officer gebert] okay, I'm gonna have to ask you

to step out of the vehicle

and I'm gonna be placing you under arrest for dui.

- [suspect] are you serious? (car dinging)

- yup, you are under arrest.

- [suspect] wait.

- [officer gebert] just go ahead and step out, man.

We're past that point.

- [suspect] oh.

Oops.

- [officer gebert] set your phone on the seat.

- I can't bring it with me?

- [officer gebert] well, you can, but just turn around,

place your hands behind your back.

We'll grab your phone.

We'll make sure you go with it.

(handcuffs clinking) okay.

- [suspect] I didn't do a damn thing.

Sitting here (beep) minding my business.

- [officer gebert] 'kay.

- Dui for (beep)?

- [officer gebert] yeah.

So-- - I can't believe this, man.

- Yeah, I can't, I can't-- - honestly.

- [officer gebert] I can't believe

you got a needle in the door, too.

- [suspect] you can't believe that,

I'm pretty sure you can believe it

'cause I'm a (beep) heroin addict.

- Okay, well.

- Yeah, heroin addict.

- Sometimes when I'm dealing with people,

and especially when they're under

the influence of something,

they can just say some of the craziest things.

- [suspect] you can't go through my pockets!

- [officer gebert] you're being searched

incident to arrest, man.

- No, that's not-- - if you're a lawyer,

I suggest you go to law school, man.

- [suspect] you're allowed to pat me down.

- [officer gebert] nope, you are misinformed, my friend.

When you get arrested-- - dude, that's my phone, man.

- Dui is a crime and we take it very seriously here.

- Just take me to jail.

- [officer gebert] are you gonna do a pbt, yes or no?

- Take me to jail.

- 'kay.

- [officer gebert] okay, that's a no then.

- [suspect] if you'll not give me a dui, yes I'll do a pbd.

- [officer gebert] that's not how that works.

- [suspect] dude, are you serious, man?

- [officer gebert] I'm sorry,

you were given your opportunity.

- [suspect] you told me it didn't, is my right to--

- [officer gebert] it is your right

to be able to refuse that.

Go ahead and take a seat.

- [suspect] can I pull my pants up real quick?

- [officer gebert] yeah, go ahead.

- (beep)!

- It's always good

to be able to get these guys off the street

because they seem to think that they can just

continue to get away with it

and I'm always here to remind them

that somebody will catch 'em and that if they're gonna

be impaired on the streets in kodiak,

they're gonna get caught and they will go to jail.

(dramatic music)

(ice cracking)

(sirens wailing)

- we have a domestic violence call in.

Domestic violence continues to be an issue

here in kodiak, and throughout alaska.

(door knocking) - what do you want?

- [officer ramos] ma'am?

- [male officer] we have to be very, very careful

on how we approach this situation.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music)

(ice cracking)

- [female caller] get away from me.

The officers are outside.

- Hands down, domestic violence

is the most unpredictable and dangerous call

that you're gonna be on.

Let me see your hands, let's see your hands, now!

It could be the fight of your life.

(ice cracking)

we have to think in a small town, as a police force,

how to solve the problem.

(sirens wailing) hey, what's going on, yo?

- That's fine, okay.

We can talk wherever you wanna talk.

- So I went inside to talk to the woman involved.

It was pretty clear something happened to her neck.

(tools roaring)

- [suspect] no.

- No, I'm not.

- That's-- - okay, yeah.

So there's the door.

- [officer] 'kay.

Talk with officer romlus real quick.

- [officer ramos] don't go to your car.

(slow music)

she shows injury and that was on her neck earlier

from your hand, okay?

So, based on our laws for the state of alaska, all right,

if there's any kind of domestic violence issue

within 12 hours, someone is going to jail.

I have to go based off of injury, okay?

- [suspect] I didn't do anything!

- We need you to go ahead and turn around,

put your hands behind your back, okay?

Go ahead and put your hands behind your back.

- So, in alaska, it's law, it's mandatory

to arrest someone once they've been involved

in a domestic violence incident,

and there's probable cause that they were

primary physical aggressor.

- [suspect] I didn't do anything!

I am learning my objection now

and I do not consent to this at all!

I didn't do anything, I'm innocent of everything

and I'm being treated as if I'm guilty!

- [officer] it's a very unique

form of law enforcement up here.

Balancing having to be firm but also being compassionate.

You need to be velvet gloves on fists of steel.

(dramatic music)

(door slamming)

(ice cracking)

(dramatic drum beats)

(officer ramos clearing throat)

- oh (beep)!

(officer ramos laughing)

you break it, you buy it!

(upbeat music)

what I love about law enforcement is you get

to interact with different people in the community.

And what's your address?

- You don't know where you live?

Some of them bad, but you run across

really good people, too.

What are you doing in the back

of the car with no clothes on?

People are generally pretty happy here.

(guitar riffs)

(radio beeping)

(sirens wailing)

there's an assault in progress.

And we're probably the farthest from it.

(officer ramos chuckling)

(sirens wailing) (radio chattering)

(gears clicking)

- hello.

- How ya doin'?

- Good.

I hope so! (man laughing)

- oh, yeah? (man laughing)

- what happened?

- Well, I'm the foreman (beep) services.

We all live together.

No physical connotations present,

just yelling and verbally cussing at each other.

It's just like, I dunno what to do.

He wants to leave?

I'll pay for his motel out of my own pocket.

I don't care.

- We're at a altercation between coworkers

who were all staying in one residence.

- [man in cap] I was threatened several times.

- Okay, how were you threatened?

- [man in cap] grabbed by the shirt.

Said I'm (beep) gonna beat your (beep), blah blah blah.

- Okay.

- [man in brown] I'm just beyond unbelievable

that three adult men are sitting here talking

to a female officer. (officer laughing)

- [officer ramos] why is that?

- Officers in general. - Uh-huh.

- [man] this is embarrassing, how's it with you?

- Well, would it matter

if I was a male or a female? - No, no it would not.

- You'd still be

talking to me. - No, oh absolutely.

I would never disrespect that, ma'am.

- All right.

- Knowing how to de-escalate

situations in a calm manner is essential

for officers in alaska.

We wanna prevent violence whenever possible.

- So do you wanna stay here tonight?

Or do you wanna go-- - he says he feels unsafe.

- Okay, so they said they'd be willing

to pay for a hotel room for you tonight.

Would you take them up on that offer?

- How am I gonna get there?

- We could give you a ride.

- Yeah, I guess.

(wheels rolling) (guitar music)

- not getting in the back, I'm in the front.

- No. - Nope.

- [both male officers] that's not how this works.

- How many people are riding in here?

- You. - Just you.

- [male officer] just you.

- [man in cap] well, I'm not under arrest, so I'm gonna--

- you're not.

- [male officer] you're not under arrest,

are you in handcuffs?

Get in the back.

- Dude, I'm giving you a ride to the freakin' hotel.

Just get in.

You're not in trouble.

- You're the one cool guy here.

- You're just going to the hotel.

All right.

You're not in trouble, not putting in handcuffs.

Just go there and cool off, man, all right?

- You need to chill out, maybe get a new profession.

- [male officer] we deal with people

like this all the time here in kodiak.

- It's not the first time we've heard that, man.

- [man in cap] you suck.

- [male officer] it's just another part of the job for us.

(officer laughing)

(calm music)

kodiak, it's a very, very special place.

You gotta make your way here.

I've met some of the most amazing, smart, talented,

interesting, eccentric people ever in my life

here on this island.

The idea of leaving here, it leaves like a sick feeling

in my stomach, and that's how I know this place is home.

(dramatic drum beats)

(ice cracking)

(intense music)

- I've had some crazy traffic stops.

Some people are great and they're nice,

meet a lot of people that are real mad.

I did a stop the other day where a guy traded

me a ticket for an origami goose he gave me.

I mean, you meet a lot of interesting people

running traffic, there's no doubt about that.

(ice cracking)

it's seven degrees tonight.

And when it just warms up a little bit

from like last night when it was anywhere

between five and 15 below,

the roads get really icy at the intersections.

I think even makes drunk drivers

more dangerous than they could be.

Hang on one second.

I'm gonna get to where this guy's at.

I just wanna observe this guy's driving.

The speed limit's only 30 and he's going about 45.

(sirens wailing)

be on the mitchell on-ramp from south cushman, westbound.

Hey, how are you doing tonight?

- Not bad. - Hey, good.

Hey, I'm sergeant meredith with the police department.

Hey, the reason I stopped your vehicle,

one, you got a headlight out.

And two, the speed limit up there

on south cushman is only 30 miles an hour.

You know how fast you were traveling?

- Maybe 39?

- [sergeant meredith] okay, yeah, 39, 40,

up to a little bit over that, okay?

How much have you had to drink tonight?

- [driver] I've had two beers.

- [sergeant meredith] okay, about how long ago was that?

- [driver] three hours.

- [sergeant meredith] okay, you have your driver's license

to take a look at?

- I...

Don't have my wallet with me, man.

- [sergeant meredith] you don't have your wallet with you?

- No sir.

- [sergeant meredith] okay, what's your name?

- [driver] (beep)

- [sergeant meredith] what's your date of birth?

- [driver] (beep)

- [sergeant meredith] when we get somebody

that doesn't have a license, we don't know

if they've got warrants for their arrest,

you don't know if they just killed somebody or not.

Hang tight real quick for me, I'll be back in just a moment.

- Yes, sir. - All right.

We need to figure out who this guy is.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music)

(ice cracking)

crime's at 2729 ladd avenue.

- [dispatcher] go ahead.

- A 287.

We pulled this guy over for not having a headlight,

and he was speeding.

- Affirmative.

10-4, there's gonna be 1012 tests

as soon as somebody else gets here.

- [dispatcher] 10-4.

- We're gonna wait for another unit to get here

before we can get him out and see if he's dui.

He's a felon, he's a dangerous guy.

Hopefully if we end up arresting him for dui,

he doesn't put up a fight.

(dramatic music)

(snow crunching)

- [sergeant meredith] no.

Hey, (beep), listen, you're not under arrest or anything,

but can you step out and talk with me for just a second?

You don't have any weapons or anything on you right now?

Okay.

'kay, this is just a preliminary breath test, 'kay?

Blow out just like you're blowing through a straw.

(machine beeping) blow.

You're not blowing, it's beeping.

You're like sucking in or something, okay, so listen.

You can't play me on this, you know what I'm saying?

I'm being straight with you, okay?

- [suspect] yes sir. All right, blow out.

(machine beeping)

blow. (man blowing)

(machine beeping)

there you go.

You're gonna be placed under arrest

for driving while intoxicated, all right?

Listen--

- listen, man, listen, I can--

- listen to me, I can't let you drive.

- Please. - You've been drinking

too much, okay?

- [driver] well, I'll call a cab.

- Okay, you're under arrest - this is ridiculous.

- You're over three times the legal limit

and you can tell that by your test, man.

- [driver] dude, I've had two (beep) drinks.

- You know, I'm not out to get you,

I'm just doing my job.

When somebody has the type of mentality

that the laws don't apply to them, it makes

for a different kind of policing.

But we all enforce the same laws.

Even in alaska.

- [driver] like two years in prison right here,(beep)!

(ice cracking)

- [sergeant meredith] we're at the end of the road up here,

and a lot of people have that frontier mentality

that they can kinda get away with everything.

I don't see a license plate on this car.

(blinker ticking)

I don't even see a temp tag.

(siren wailing)

incidence five, one at the gas pumps at holiday on 23rd.

It's a gray nissan titan, there's no license plate.

(gear clicking) - [dispatcher] 10-4.

- Hey, how are you doin'?

I'm sergeant meredith with the police department.

Hey, the reason I stopped your vehicle

is 'cause you don't have a license plate on your truck.

- [sergeant meredith] how long ago did you buy the truck?

- [sergeant meredith] in November?

And you haven't had a license plate for it yet?

- [driver] it's under the thing that says ford.

- [sergeant meredith] okay, ford is not a license plate,

ford's car manufacturer.

- Okay, why haven't you done that?

- You need to have license plates on the truck.

- [sergeant meredith] here's your license back, okay?

- Thank you, sir. - You're free to go.

- I'm gonna go pound my head into the steering wheel now.

She was, "yeah, there's plates on it."

I'm like, "no, there's not."

"yeah, there is."

"no, there's not."

yeah, people kill me, right?

Too funny sometimes.

You know, at the end of the day,

I love the interaction with people.

Hey, we're gonna wheel you out.

Got the wheelchair, why not?

(man laughing)

okay, I'm not gonna issue a citation or anything,

you live right over there,

just get it taken care of, all right?

In a place like fairbanks, you have to be willing

to come out of your shell, be a part of the community,

and to engage and interact with people.

(rock music)

it is a different type of law enforcement.

And it takes a certain type of person

to be able to do that.

Let me help you out, brother.

Here, grab my hand, brother, let me help you up.

I know you're cold, okay?

There's just nothing like working in alaska.