Original subtitles

- [Officer Butler] Here in Alaska, most people we've seen

come out of the Academy wash out pretty quick.

- How old are you? - 22.

- I raised my kids,

and now I'm going to do what I want to do,

which is law enforcement.

Have you heard anything about this gun at all?

It's a huge learning curve.

- [Officer Norris] People pick up on me being the new guy.

- Officer Norris, stop right there.

- [Officer Foster] You need to come out now

with your hands up.

- [Officer Norris] This is not just a scenario anymore.

It's real life.

(intense music)

(bear growls)

(soft music)

- It takes a rare person to be a cop in Alaska.

Most people here to be honest hate us.

And you never know when something crazy could happen.

Come here Paul.

City 09, he's running for me towards city hall.

Stop, arrest, get on the ground.

You need to get on the ground, don't move.

I'm gonna tase you.

(dramatic music)

My name is Gerrit Butler.

I'm a Patrol Officer for the City of Fairbanks.

(beeping)

I've lived in Fairbanks my whole life.

Fairbanks still got a small town feel,

but it seems a lot more dangerous

than what it used to be.

(intense music)

I am looking for an individual with a warrant.

We get an updated warrant list pretty much

every day of the week

because a lot of them could be potentially dangerous.

(suspenseful music)

(police radio chatter)

Come here, Paul.

City 09,

he's running from me towards city hall.

Paul, stop!

Paul, stop!

Stop, arrest!

You're under arrest, Paul, stop!

I'm gonna tase you!

- [Paul] For what?

- [Officer Butler] Get on the ground.

You get on the ground, don't move.

Hands behind your back.

- [Officer Butler] You have a warrant.

Paul, you didn't have to run from me.

All right, man, you okay?

- Yeah, I'm okay.

- Okay, hold on.

Thank you for listening.

A little bit.

I've known Paul for many years.

We grew up in the same neighborhood,

he went to high school with my ex-wife.

- It's all right.

I think tackling somebody you know,

is one of the strange things about the job.

Don't run from me.

You're right next to the police station.

They're all eating breakfast in there.

- [Officer] Yeah, you could've picked

a way better spot to run.

- All right, Paul.

- [Officer Butler] Sadly, Paul, you can't have your smokes.

- I'll put it in my car, on the side of my car.

- Okay.

- And then when I see you, I'll just give them to you.

- Okay. - Does that work?

Oh, here your knife fell out. That's what it was.

Do you want me to just put your knife with your smokes?

- Yeah.

- Did you know you had a warrant?

- [Paul] Nuh-uh.

- Why'd you run?

(Officer Butler laughs)

- Okay, got it?

All right.

I didn't even stress this morning.

I'm too old for this Paul.

- [Officer Butler] Well, I'm 35.

(soft music)

20 minutes into a shift, you get into a foot pursuit.

That's usually a pretty good start to a day.

(gentle music)

- How's your brother?

(gentle music)

- I see him every now and then.

(gentle music)

You gotta be kidding me.

Paul's out already.

Hey Paul, hold on.

The reason why he was released from jail

is misdemeanor warrants are released

under your own recognizance.

So if it's a misdemeanor warrant,

they're just going to let him right back out of jail

because there's no reason to keep them in there.

Knife, cigarettes. - Cool.

- That's it? - Yeah.

- Good.

- Yeah. Let me grab your lighter.

I thought I stuffed it in there, but let me grab it.

- All right. Thank you.

- I got you three of 'em. Does that work?

All right man, take care Paul.

Good seeing you buddy.

All right, buddy.

(calm music)

(upbeat music)

As a patrol officer, we do all types of things.

I mean we're counselors, we're homicide investigators.

It really varies from call to call,

and it makes it really hard.

It's not the easiest job in the world.

Most of the people we've seen come out of the Academy

to try to be an officer wash out pretty quick.

- I'm Officer Trevor Norris.

I just got out of the Academy.

I've been on the job going on three months.

I'm on third phase of field training.

- [Officer Butler] Who's the cop here?

- I didn't see one on here.

- No, who's the cop? You're the cop.

Turn your lights on.

Pass these fools.

- [Officer Norris] Things are really fast paced

and stressful.

People pick up on me being the new guy,

especially with me being so young.

The things I feel like I'm having to learn,

just learning to be more confident.

- How old are you? - [Officer Norris] 22.

When I first started, I didn't have my beard,

and I looked really, really young.

Now, maybe I don't look, you know 18.

Maybe now I look 25, I don't know?

- He looks like Chris Evans, Captain America.

It's extremely intimidating.

- [Officer Brubeck] It is.

- [Officer Butler] I think I might start

calling him Captain.

(Officer Brubeck laughs)

What do you think? Should I? - I think so.

- [Officer Butler] On calls, should I call you Cap?

All right, you can blush.

- [Officer Norris] If all goes well,

I should be on my own in about five weeks.

In those five weeks, I still got a lot to learn,

a lot to figure out before I'm on my own.

It's exciting, a little nerve wracking,

but we're going to give it a good shot.

- [Officer Butler] If you don't know what to do,

do what you think is right.

No pressure.

None whatsoever.

There's going to be a lot of pressure.

(heavy rock music)

(gentle music)

- [Dispatcher] Dispatch?

- [Officer Brubeck] You can put 5-3 on that.

- We're going to a gun call

for a domestic assault most likely.

I hope he's figuring out where he's going.

He should go code, turn on his lights.

(sirens blaring)

- Where ya heading?

- [Officer Norris] I didn't realize

that I missed the turn back there.

- It would have been better to go to another side street.

He just blew right by it.

- [Officer Foster] So he's going to be under stress.

We're gonna see how he responds.

- [Officer Brubeck] I'll give you my shotgun.

Double check it.

- [Officer Norris] I'm being exposed to a lot of situations

I never was before.

Just kind of being like a deer in the headlights.

(suspenseful music)

Approach the house the best we can,

and see if there's anybody inside,

what's going on?

- [Officer Foster] Exactly. Let's go.

- [Officer Brubeck] Keep an eye on the windows.

- [Officer Foster] I'm on side three

of the gold house, red trim.

- [Officer Norris] This is not just a scenario anymore.

It's real life.

(dramatic music)

(intense music)

(gentle country music)

I was born and raised in Valdez, Alaska.

It's a pretty sleepy town about 42, 4,300 people.

Stuff like stolen vehicles and pursuits

just never happened when I lived there.

Just coming from the Academy

was kind of like a big eye-opener.

- [Officer Brubeck] Somebody called in that the individual

is threatening a female with a weapon.

I mean let me know if you see any movement

in those windows, okay?

- [Officer Norris] Yup.

- [Officer Brubeck] Okay, we got two people coming out.

Ma'am?

- I know, we understand.

Could you come here?

Your kids are coming out right now, okay?

Can you go speak to those officers over there, please?

Hey buddy, you need to come over here.

Come this way, please.

Your mom is over here, buddy.

You need an update on what's going on?

- Sure.

- [Officer Brubeck] Currently everybody but the male is

out of the house.

He may have a weapon.

- [Officer Foster] This is the Fairbanks Police.

You need to come out of the house with your hands up.

- [Officer Norris] At the Academy,

they give you a really basic understanding

of how to a handle situation.

And then I get here,

and my adrenaline gets pumping.

Suddenly, you think about all the things

that could go wrong.

Someone could end up getting shot.

(dramatic music)

- [Officer Foster] We are not going to leave.

- [Officer Norris] You know, it's kind of like

getting baptized by fire,

but the best way to learn to swim sometimes

is just getting thrown in.

(dramatic music)

- We'll go ahead do a show of force.

Hopefully that will be enough

to have a change of demeanor.

- [Officer Norris] We're basically going to try

and call this guy out as best he can.

It's definitely a first for me.

- [Officer Foster] Fairbanks Police with a canine.

If you come out, we will not force entry.

- To our knowledge, we have everybody out of the house.

It's really unsafe for us

to just go busting in someone's door.

It's just best not to put any officers

in that kind of a risky situation.

We have to walk away from this one,

but we're just basically going to get 'em another day.

Today's feeling good,

like I got exposed to a lot of different things

that I haven't done before.

Especially being this new in the job,

I'm learning more and more.

(soft music)

(beeping)

(gentle music)

- Here in Kotzebue,

we are at the top of the world.

It's extremely remote.

It's extremely isolated.

You fly into Kotzebue, you fly out.

There are no roads to get there.

And for some people that's tough,

but I love it here.

My name is Stefanie Jones.

I've been working with Kotzebue Police Department

a very short period of time.

Now at 46 years old,

I have decided that I've kind of done

what I'm supposed to do for everybody else.

I raised my kids.

I've worked my bum off.

And now I'm going to do what I want to do,

which is law enforcement.

Well, I'm from Maine

and here at Kotzebue at the police department,

I work two weeks on and two weeks off.

So every two weeks I'm flying home to Maine.

And then come back to Kotzebue.

I am doing field training right now with Sergeant Cox.

- Take your time.

Don't rush into anything.

Remember times on your side on most of these calls.

- All right.

It's a huge process.

It's a huge learning curve,

and I'm just taking it all in.

Hi, guys.

Whatcha doin'?

I just wanted to say hi.

- Yes.

- Here you go.

- Bye guys.

- See you later. - Stay warm.

(mimics howling dog)

- Such a suck up.

- [Officer Jones] Listen, just because

you're not community friendly,

and you're a grumpy old man,

nasty, negative grumpy old man,

that is not how I'm going to do my policing.

No, did you not just tell me

to find and make my own way?

(Officer Jones laughs)

- You want us old grumpy old men though,

when (beep) hits the fan.

- (beep) right, I do. (both laugh)

(gentle music)

We just got a call that a man was urinating

outside of our local store,

and he allegedly exposed himself

to a mother and three-year-old daughter.

I'll take a look out here while you head inside.

How you doin'?

- Yeah. What's going on today?

- Uh-huh, were you out here peeing?

- Uh-uh.

- Uh-uh, wasn't you?

-Uh huh.

- Okay, did you see which way he went?

- Okay, all right. Thank you.

- [Officer Jones] The one I was just talking to?

(dramatic music)

(suspenseful music)

(beeping)

(haunting music)

- I am the rookie officer here,

but I've actually been in Kotzebue

for the last three years, doing juvenile probation.

There's some tattoos. You're welcome.

Because I've worked here previously.

I know a lot of people.

I know a lot of the issues that make an impact

in native communities here in Alaska.

(haunting music)

Here in Kotzebue,

we would love to have local people working

at the police department,

but it's hard to fill positions here.

It's so nice to see you.

Where are you in school now?

- I'm finishing classes.

- What are you gonna do after?

Come work for us, what?

(girl laughing)

You can come work for us.

Part of the reason, they don't apply for those positions is

because they'd be out there having to arrest

and have interactions with their family, their friends.

And that's a tough thing.

(soft suspenseful music)

So, as a police officer from outside the community

you really have to get to know people,

get to know the culture, and really be open to listening.

Really wanting to make people feel like they're being heard.

Oh yeah. Bye Asher.

(engine revving)

We have some witnesses that say you were out here peeing

and it was definitely you.

- No it wasn't me.

- It was definitely you. Yah.

(beeping)

- You're coming in for exposing yourself in public.

Okay. Step down.

- Okay.

- Do you have anything in your pockets?

Any knives, any weapons?

- Your cell phone?

- Careful.

(car door closes)

(suspenseful music)

- Really?

- [Male Officer] For somebody who's probably 16.

- Does she see his business?

- [Male Officer] Yes. And the child.

(engine running)

- [Male Officer] Okay.

- .212.

- I'm sorry to hear that.

(piano music)

- This man had just lost his child.

An infant.

- Okay.

- It's unimaginable.

In this job, You're seeing people at their worst.

Usually in a part of their life

where something terrible has happened.

- I'm just going to charge him on exposure charges,

one for exposing himself in front of a three year child,

the other one in front of a girl.

- [Female Voiceover] You gotta stop drinking, buddy. Okay?

- [Female Voiceover] Yeah.

He would not want you to being a drunk

because of him.

He'd want you to be happy and live a good life.

- We appreciate that people are struggling.

And I think law enforcement professionals have to,

have empathy,

but it always comes down to the fact that

we have to do what we have to do sometimes.

That means arresting people,

eforcing laws to keep the community safe.

I just hope

that he gets the help that he needs.

(whooshing)

(haunting music)

(beeping)

(upbeat music)

- All right.

Got some taquitos.

Looks like I got some nachos, salad,

note that says have a great day.

- His wife makes him lunch and sends little notes.

I think he's a newlywed.

(both laugh)

(upbeat music)

- This last month is kind of the home stretch for me.

I don't wanna say I have this in the bag yet,

but I'm more confident now,

than when I first started.

(haunting music)

(rustling)

(phone ringing)

- The lady's making threats, it sounds like so.

- Who she's threatening?

- It sounds like she's threatening staff.

- Yeah.

(car rumbling)

- 10-4.

- She's upset that she is not getting her state assistant,

the way she would like it.

(wind rushing)

- [Officer] They don't wanna press charges

for anything like that,

but they do want you to leave the property for three days.

Okay?

If you do not leave, you will be arrested for trespass.

You don't need that.

We don't need that. Right?

- [Trevor] All right.

Stand up for me.

(handcuffs clink)

- [Officer] I'm just gonna pat you down real quick.

- [Trevor] Needles, guns, knives?

- [Officer] All right. We can go.

(rustling)

- I wanna go home. Please.

(snow crunching)

- Well, I'm sorry too. - [Suspect] I wanna go...

I tried giving you the chance to leave.

(snow crunching)

- Officer Norris, do me a favor.

Stop right there.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music)

Can you get the bottle opener?

(keys clink)

(haunting music)

Where's her lighter?

(rustling)

- Can't find. (car door closes)

(keys clink)

(car door closes)

- Why wouldn't you want for her to have that on her?

- Because it's got the sharp edge.

- Just like that.

It's benign object, to a lot of people,

but when they're in this situation,

that's where it becomes a problem.

Each and every one of us has seen somebody try

to light up or light the car on fire.

- So...

- Okay.

(haunting music)

My lesson to him, is anything can be a weapon.

He's gonna be by himself.

If he makes that mistake by himself,

it could end up being something that causes injury

to him.

(haunting music)

- I'm supposed to be making decisions on my own.

I should have seen the bottle opener.

(haunting music)

(car door closes)

I have four weeks left.

I think the thing that's most intimidating

to me is just, not knowing what's gonna come.

(beeping)

- Do you have an ID in your pockets,

so I can see who you are?

Really, what made me want to do law enforcement,

was when I was very young, my dad died in an arson fire.

You know, that remains unsolved to this day.

It's a tough thing to deal with as a kid,

as you grow up that really molds and kind of sculpts

who you are and helps form your personality.

It's definitely important to me to have resolutions

for people.

(whooshing sound)

Nina, is there anything else I could have asked?

- Right.

- We got a report from a community member

that he had a rifle stolen out of his car,

a pretty expensive rifle.

(ominus music)

We have a suspect in this case.

(ominus music)

We're gonna go talk to the person that says

the suspect that was involved.

What we need right now is an eye witness who saw the suspect

with the gun.

- If he can positively describe the gun,

all the identifying marks,

you can get a positive ID.

- And at that point we could submit charges.

- Officer Jones is in training.

She's in her third phase.

And at this point I'm basically there

for just guidance and questioning.

She's handling all the calls on her own.

(car door closes)

(knocking on door)

- [Man inside the house] Come in!

(door squeaking)

- Hi. I'm Officer Jones.

I just had a couple of questions.

- Because he's more likely to talk to us out here by himself

then in front of other people.

- He tried to sell me the gun back in the rear, two days ago

- Okay. - or something like that.

Like I kinda known.

- What kind of gun was it?

Can you describe it?

- He didn't say what kind of gun or I didn't see it

or nothing.

- All right. Thanks sir.

All right, - Appreciate it.

- He didn't see the gun.

So we still don't have enough to press charges right now.

(footsteps receding)

- If there's a bunch of people in there,

then he won't be as apt to talk to us,

- Yeah. - in front of other people.

- Okay. Moving along.

(car moving)

(soft music)

Field training is going great

but I am old enough to know that I have a lot to learn.

So, I am absorbing everything that I can like a sponge

and listening to the people

around me that have been doing this for a long time.

(soft music)

- Time to move on to the next one.

- Right now, we're going to talk to the suspect.

He is visiting a friend at the jail

and let's go see what he has to say.

How are you?

I'm officer Jones.

I haven't met you yet.

Nice to meet you.

Sorry to interrupt your visit.

- Oh . Hello.

- Can I ask you a couple of questions real quick?

- Sure.

So (beep) had a gun stolen out of his vehicle the other day.

And so we also have a witness saying

that you tried to sell it.

(dramatic music)

- You apparently had it at some point.

Did somebody give it to you?

- No.

(haunting music)

- Mike? Anything?

Okay.

- Yeah. That's all.

- All right.

Have you heard anything about this gun at all?

- Okay. All right.

Well, thanks.

(soft music)

- It's really frustrating when leads don't go anywhere.

We need someone to say that he saw the suspect with the gun.

Without that, we have nothing.

Your name came up the other day.

You have to keep working the case.

- Thank you. - Thanks.

You just gotta keep asking the questions.

You gotta keep interviewing.

Okay. Bye.

(phone clunks)

(soft music)

(engine revving)

I think we finally found the man

who saw the suspect with the gun.

I'm hoping this is gonna be the evidence we need.

It's Officer Jones at the police department,

good evening.

How much was he asking for it?

The suspect was trying to sell the gun

to this witness as well.

Can you tell me about that?

What color was the scope on it?

Okay.

(intriguing music)

Take care. Bye.

He gave the description of the gun.

It was the exact description that matches

our victim's missing weapon.

I think we finally found the first-hand witness.

So we're gonna refer charges over to the DA's office

and let the DA decide whether they wanna seek a warrant

for him.

It doesn't matter what level of crime the case is,

it always feels good to resolve it.

We pursued every lead.

We did everything that we could

and I can sleep good tonight knowing that.

(wind rushing)

(whooshing)

(beeping)

(upbeat music)

- Driving around my own car is awesome.

I've been on my own about two weeks now.

I'm just ready to apply everything I've learned

to the street.

So, you know, it's just kinda like,

what I'm I gonna get myself into?

There's a little bit of thrill in the unknown.

(upbeat music)

We are going to Golden Heart Park

for some individuals that are breaking out streetlights,

allegedly.

- [Dispatch] Hey, I think he's 29-1, (indistinct).

(soft music)

Check out these lights.

(soft music)

(footsteps receding)

(knocking on metal)

(footsteps receding)

City 5-3,

there is one light that is completely smashed in.

Another one, two, three, four,

five.

City 5-3,

there's also four more.

They're smashed.

(haunting music)

(haunting music)

(dramatic music)

(intense music)

- [Officer] You've had no less than five warnings.

- [Trevor] Let's go.

- Come on.

- [Trevor] Face the vehicle!

It looks like you got some cuts on your hand, man.

I'm pat you down for any weapon.

- [Suspect] Go ahead.

- Knife here.

Are you guys done now?

Fairbanks PD's finest.

- Take a seat.

(car door closes)

(ax clatters)

- I wanna talk to you.

- Talk about what?

- I just wanna talk to you about your hatchet

and what happened with those lights.

- That was somebody else.

- It was somebody else?

Who was it then?

- I'm walking through.

- Tell so, how'd you cut your hand?

- It was from a fight.

- When was the fight?

- Earlier.

- Earlier when?

- Before everyone showed up.

(suspenseful music)

Could you guys run out to the bridge real quick,

see if there's any evidence?

- [Police Officer] Sure.

(radio beeps) - Go ahead.

- 10-4.

- [Police Oficer] It fits.

There's blood on 3 out of the 5 pieces.

He got himself pretty good.

- Okay. So there's blue paint

on the hatchet, which looks just like the...

- [Man] That wasn't mine I found it on the bridge.

- You found it on the bridge?

- Yeah.

- So you were on the bridge?

- Yes.

- [Trevor] Alright, we're gonna go to my car.

- [Trevor] No, we're going to FCC.

- [Suspect] Why am I getting arrested?

- [Trevor] You're arrested right now for.

- [Suspect] For what? What have I...

- [Trevor] Are you gonna let me talk or not?

- [Suspect] Yeah I'll let you talk.

- [Trevor] Okay,

for criminal trespass and criminal mischief.

(car door closes)

- All right.

(car door closes)

- No, I'm not from Fairbanks.

- [Suspect] You probably come from California.

- Born and raised in Alaska, man.

- [Suspect] (beep) a (beep).

- As a police officer to come

across people that are belligerent

and just verbally aggressive,

if I start reacting to their words,

that's just giving them what they want.

- Just learning how to handle them is part of the job.

(soft music)

- Oh that wouldn't have been the right thing.

(soft music)

(whooshing)

(all laughing)

One thing I've learned is just be confident

in your decisions.

Take control of situations.

When I'm take this handcuffs you're gonna put on your head,

you understand me?

- Yes I understand.

- Well you look official.

- Your sister made it for me.

- Oh yes?

- Yeah.

I love Police in Alaska

because it is the greatest show on earth.

(guitar music)

- I'm excited for, what's gonna come.

(upbeat music)

- He's a really nice dog.

- Yes he is.

- I have a few more shifts left.

You're just crazy.

And then, I will be going to the Academy.

Well, thanks guys.

I'm kinda looking forward to it,

but there's a little anxiety related to that as well.

I mean, I'm 46 years old.

It's gonna be difficult.

(guitar music)

(laughing)

(guitar music)

So I'm just gonna do my best. (laughing)

You don't have to be a 22-year old to be a police officer.

I feel like I could provide things

that maybe other officers couldn't.

Offer the different perspective,

came at things at a different angle.

Alaska is definitely where my heart is.

I feel like I can contribute here.

(guitar music)

(birds chirping)

(somber music)

When I was at the Academy,

in week five, my knee basically gave out.

It just could not do it anymore.

It could not do the repetitive motions anymore.

No matter how hard I wanted to complete.

I just couldn't.

The personal disappointment that I felt I couldn't manage,

but I feel like I failed the community.

Yeah. (chuckles)

So it still bothers me. (laughs)

So...

(bright music)

But, I'm not ready to give up.

I have to finish the Academy here.

(bright music)

(water crashing softly)

Here we go again over to our island.

(bright music)

I need to take care of my body.

I need to get better.

(bright music)

(water crashing softly)

(bright music)

I want to do police work.

(bright music)

I still want to go back to the community that I love.

(laughing)

(bright music)

I want to go back to Kotzebue.