The Alaska State Troopers returned to television on January 7th with a new season. The self-titled documentary series follows troopers responding to calls across the state, including cities in the interior and villages in rural Alaska.
Spokesperson for the troopers, Austin McDaniel, said the State of Alaska won’t be compensated for participating in the show, and instead views it as a recruiting tool. Bringing the show back was also in response to requests to station more troopers in underserved communities.
“Many communities, especially in rural Alaska are asking us to hire more state troopers,” McDaniel stated. “To hire more state troopers we have to show people what state troopers do.”
The original series that began airing in 2009 drummed up thousands of job applications for the state-run police force each year and that number has dwindled since the show ended in 2015.
“Today, we receive hundreds [of applications]. Around 1% are successful in making it to become a state trooper,” McDaniel mentioned.
KNOM reported in September that one trooper was spotted filming during a flight between Unalakleet and Nome.
Troopers were given a choice to participate in the show and also the production company, Anusia Films, followed an “in-depth process” to get consent from Alaskans featured in the series.
According to a press release from the network, A&E, the series will include “multi-agency criminal takedowns” and “life-saving search and rescue missions”. McDaniel hopes the show will give Alaskans a better understanding of how troopers spend their days.
“We hope Alaskans will see that and it will be a point of pride for the work that their law enforcement officers do to keep them safe every day,” McDaniel said.
