Original subtitles

(wind blowing)

(intense music)

- policing in alaska.

Sometimes it's life and death.

Stop.

Police department!

- [officer] you have to be mentally prepared

for any situation that arises.

- Get your (beep) - back away.

Back away from me.

Here, as a police officer,

you're on your own.

Stop it.

(dogs barking)

(gun cocks)

- [man] people come here

to get away from the rules of society.

- [officer] get out of the car!

(gunshot)

- I'm (beep) done.

- [officer] all right.

(intense orchestral rock music)

- [dispatcher] units 25-14.

- [officer] hands behind your back.

(gunshot)

(ethereal synth pad)

- kotzebue is the last frontier.

Because we're so remote.

Sometimes it's real quiet

and sometimes, you know,

it's life and death.

(man screaming)

look out, look out.

Roll over on your stomach right now.

Roll over

on your stomach.

This place is the wild, wild west.

My name is sergeant norman hughes.

Kotzebue is a small town.

30 miles above the arctic circle.

Right outside of this town there's nothing.

So, in the summertime,

surrounded by water.

In the wintertime,

it's like a totally different world.

We get roughly 10,000 calls a year.

We're always short handed.

Usually the officer that's workin'

is workin' totally alone.

Lot of assaults,

lot of domestic violence.

Those are some of the most dangerous calls you go to.

Especially when you're doin' it by yourself.

(dog barking)

10-4.

Got a call that someone's

opening people's doors to the residences.

Possibly broke a door.

(man screaming)

- [norman] look out, look out.

Hey, stop it right now.

Roll over on your stomach.

Roll over right now.

(dog barking)

do what I say.

- [man] that's not the way it's supposed to be.

- [norman] roll over on your stomach.

- [man] cut it out, willy.

- [norman] okay, you get it now.

Come on.

Stop it.

Okay?

You need to cut it out.

I'm the police.

Stop.

- [willy] (beep) them.

- Stop it.

- [norman] he's fighting with his brother.

(handcuffs clicking)

- I don't know what's goin' on with you today.

But you're goin' to jail.

(dog barking)

you guys wanna press charges for trespassing?

- Oh yeah.

- I mean, he's going to jail right now.

It's just gonna be a disorderly conduct already.

- Yeah, it's not.

- Okay, all right, well,

I'm glad you guys are okay.

Hey, hey, hey,

you wanna go with your bro?

- No.

- Don't touch nobody.

- That's not cool.

- Your intoxication.

- I have (beep)

- [norman] all right,

you're goin' to jail, dude.

You better get down on the ground right now.

- [man] jail for what?

- Get down right now.

- Goin' to jail for what, leave me alone.

- You just,

you just tried to hit me.

That's not okay.

- I'm not gonna hit you.

- Stop now.

- Go ahead, bring me to jail,

go ahead.

- Put your hands behind your back.

Both of 'em.

Dispatch three.

Got two 10-80s now,

both brothers.

(dog barking)

unit 34, your 20.

- You think it's okay

to put your hands on me?

(intense stinger)

okay, come on.

(intense stinger)

it's a dangerous job.

In kotzebue, you don't have

a lot of backup.

Pretty much anywhere in alaska,

even a big city

has its own challenges.

(air sweeping)

- fairbanks is the largest city

north of anchorage in the state.

People come here to get away

from the mainstream.

To get away from the rules of society.

(police siren)

there is that feeling that

certain laws just don't apply to them.

As an officer,

you have to realize it's kinda

a way of life up here.

You have to stay on your toes.

- [dispatcher] 911, what city?

- [dispatcher] okay.

Are you able to give me a description of the individual?

- [dispatcher] what's the weapon?

(police siren) (driving guitar music)

- [dispatcher] my officers are comin'...

(car revving)

(intense music)

- [peyton] he's goin',

I see him, he's goin'.

(police sirens)

we got a pursuit now.

(radio chatter)

came in as a stolen vehicle.

It was stolen from a pizza place

just down the street.

We chased him over here

he got stuck in the snowbank.

- There's spike strips set up on the other side

he can't get out this way.

(dog barking)

dog is ready in case he runs.

- [officer] we can't go away,

I need you to come out the car.

Come on.

I wanna help you out.

- [peyton] the worst thing that can happen right now

is he starts shooting from the car

or he's able to get the car unstuck

and drive off.

You guys get ready to get outta the way

if he hits reverse.

(orchestral swelling)

brake lights, brake lights!

- [officer] I need you to come out the car.

If you do not come out of the vehicle

we will be forced to use force

to remove you.

(intense percussive music)

- [peyton] we've got him pinned in here.

They're rigging up their gas extender.

They can deploy the gas

directly into the car to get him out.

(gun cocking)

(glass breaking)

(dog barking)

- [man] get out of the car!

Get out of the car!

(gun shot)

(man screaming)

- [officer] get out of the car!

(gun shot)

(man screaming) (dog barking)

he's out, he's out!

Put your hands where I can...

- [suspect] what're you doing?

- Relax.

- Okay.

Yeah, I think we're good.

Let's go ahead and stand him up.

Ready?

One, two, three.

(officer coughing)

we're gonna take him to the hospital

so he can be seen

'cause he got shot with those less lethals.

Well, he's outta the car,

everybody's safe.

Just puttin' all our toys away.

(intense percussive music)

the owners got some damage to their car.

Broken window or whatnot.

It'll have to air out a little bit.

We have a high crime rate in alaska.

So, we tell all of our new recruits,

especially the folks from out of state.

Get ready, you gotta be prepared.

It's another world.

Oh man.

That gas is gross.

- Here in kotzebue,

we're staffed right now with

six officers.

There's not enough of us.

It's kinda difficult to get someone

to even want to come to the arctic.

It gets super cold.

Sometimes it's just unbearable.

(acoustic guitar)

- [radio announcer] the forecast,

plenty of sunshine through today

with seasonal temperatures.

Sticky and humid

with a high of 96.

Clear skies tonight with a low near 70.

It's currently 82 degrees.

- So, we've changed our department policy.

Instead of livin' here full-time,

the officers can live somewhere else,

if you choose.

- How's the water, honey?

(driving rock music)

- I've been with the kotzebue police department

for goin' on two years now.

My wife and I live in texas.

I'm commuting to work every two weeks.

She works as a dispatch correctional officer.

In kotzebue,

we have the two week on,

two week off schedule.

12 hour shifts,

14 days straight.

And you get to go back home

where it's really nice.

Sergeant hughes is on day shift.

And I'm workin' night shift.

I'm out here by myself.

12-hours a night, every night.

- Go ahead.

We've got a call saying her two sons are fighting.

- [robert] 10-4, any weapons involved?

- 10-4, I'll be en route.

We have an alleged assault with two family members.

Sounds like a domestic.

It gets a little tense workin' alone, sometimes.

You have to be mentally prepared

for any situation that arises.

(dog barking)

what's goin' on?

- [robert] have a seat my friend.

- [robert] why does he have a busted lip?

Looks like you got an injury on your hand

which would lead me to believe

that you punched your brother here.

- 10-4

- [robert] so, you're gettin' a little too close.

You need to back up, okay?

They're under arrest for domestic violence.

You're gonna place your hands behind your back.

- [suspect] no.

- [officer] stop it, cooperate.

- [suspect] no, no.

- [robert] you need to relax.

- [suspect] you wanna (beep)?

You ain't (beep) (beep).

- [robert] walk.

(dog barking)

- [suspect] no I'm not, I...

- [robert] relax.

Stop it.

(light acoustic guitar music)

- I've always loved the outdoors.

I wanted to be a part of alaska.

The culture, the people.

I mean, it's a completely different world here.

It's like being in another country.

In every aspect.

But, there're some people out there

that despise us.

You get spit on,

you get kicked at.

You get shot at.

But, I'm not ready to give up

on kotzebue.

I do it for the people.

And hope for the best.

(dog barking)

have a seat.

Pick your right foot up.

Cooperate.

The grandmother said david here

attacked his brother

and his brother was just trying to defend himself.

Dispatch seven.

Advises the er,

I'm going to be transporting this prisoner there.

He may need stitches.

- [dispatcher] thank you.

- David, just so you know,

you're under arrest for...

- he's got a laceration to his lip.

He needs to be cleared for jail.

I'm not trying to put any pressure,

or trying to rush you or anything.

But, I'm the only officer out on duty right now.

I'm gonna put you in on this side.

- Go ahead.

- 10-4, I'll go look for him right now.

- [david] hey, man.

- Hey, there's a situation right here

around the corner

that I'm gonna go handle.

(metal slamming)

- no, nope.

- Ouch, ow.

- Are you okay?

We'll get you upstairs, okay?

Can you stand up for me?

- Ow.

- It's gonna be okay,

we're gonna take care of ya.

Don't worry.

(man moaning)

I got ya.

All right, buddy,

I gotta go.

I'm really, really busy tonight, okay? (exhales)

- [david] bro.

All right, sir.

We're home.

- Yeah.

No, this ain't home.

- Yep.

- No, this ain't home.

- This is going to be your home for the night.

Come on.

(lock clicking)

is there any other pending calls?

- Just that one on caribou.

- All right,

I'm sure the night watchman's on his way.

(dogs whining and barking)

- do you see it?

That's the frozen ocean they're running on.

There's a lot of stuff here

that you really can't see

too many other places in the world.

I've been here forever

and I still think it's neat to see

dog mushing.

I've been in alaska over 22 years, now.

I've been here so long,

when I get a call,

it's bill or joe.

Somebody I know.

So, you know, you have to detach yourself from it,

of course.

- In the last three or four days,

we've been having one individual

committing all kinds of crimes.

(intense musical swell)

last night it escalated to where he

went into someone's house

and actually stole some guns.

- Over the last couple of days,

one, two, three, four, five, six thefts,

two burglaries,

and a trespass.

He's just continuing to create havoc.

- Yep.

There he is right there.

He's wearin' flip flops.

I mean, every time I've dealt with him,

he's not intoxicated or anything.

The longer he's out,

the more stuff he's gonna do.

10-4.

Old lady came in and said that

a guy came over and asked to shovel her porch.

And then he ended up going into her apartment

and locking himself in.

- [woman] hey.

(intense music)

- we don't know if he's armed.

But we have to treat it as though he is.

I don't wanna do a search of a residence by myself,

so I have a lieutenant who's backup.

He may or may not still be here.

- I guess we'll find out, won't we?

(knocking)

(pounding)

- I don't know what that noise is.

What's that noise?

(dog barking)

- if he walks out with a machete or somethin'...

- if he's choppin' on somethin',

I don't want you up here right now.

- [norman] police department!

(dramatic music)

(dog barking) - police!

I don't know what that noise is?

- [linger] it's a fan.

- [hughes] huh?

- [linger] it's a fan.

He still might be here.

Going in here.

Clear, not that one.

- [hughes] over this way.

All clear.

- [linger] clear.

(dramatic music)

- [hughes] he didn't make it inside it looks like,

but he tore up a bunch of trash in the cunnychuck.

He hasn't done anything violent,

but he is committing crimes.

We don't want anything to happen to him either.

It's very dangerous here in kotzebue

to be entering people's homes.

Most of the people here are armed.

So having a stranger come into your house

not a good idea.

(dramatic music)

(dogs barking)

- police department.

It's sergeant hughes.

Hello.

Have you seen him,

when's the last time you heard from him?

I'm looking for (beep) have you seen him?

Any idea where he might be?

Okay thanks.

We don't really have the manpower to

have a bunch of cars out looking for him,

so, right now it's just myself

and at nighttime

it's gonna be officer odom.

(dramatic music)

- this guy's been sort of elusive,

hopefully we can catch up with him

and stop him from his crime spree.

- [hughes] anything exciting last night?

- Oh, you're gonna like this.

He's in jail so you can breath.

(exhales)

- [odom] I found him underneath 778 c building.

He was underneath the building.

I said "hey! Police stop get on the ground"

and of course he bolts and runs.

- Well, I'm glad you got him.

- I'm here to help you sarge.

- Thank you.

Officer of the year, man.

- I don't know what his deal is.

I tried to interview him

and a lot of his stories were not consistent so.

- Yeah, I'm going to see if he'll voluntarily

do a drug screen for me, to determine

whether he's having a mental issue

or if it's drug related.

- I'm gonna go home.

- Hopefully it goes smoothly.

(dramatic music)

- once you leave kotzebue

there's nothing.

The remoteness up here is pretty extreme.

The isolation,

not everyone can mentally handle it.

This one's amphetamines, cocaine, opioids, thc.

Are you willing to do a urine test for me?

- [prisoner] yeah.

- You just come with me we'll go do it here

in the booking room, okay?

So it's just this little cup right here, okay?

So right there is the bathroom.

(grunts)

- I just know that he isn't a bad person.

- Can I just do it right here?

- Yeah, but the bathroom is right there

I was gonna let you have a moment.

Are you okay with doing it?

(prisoner sobs)

- we're trying to figure out what's going on with you

I know you're not - I know!

- Being yourself right now,

so we're trying to figure out what's going on.

(somber music)

- okay.

The drug screen, it was negative.

They're going to do a mental eval on him

and determine what to do with him next.

When you're policing a small town like kotzebue,

you need to build a good rapport with people.

I'm not just trying to put everybody in jail.

I've lived here a long time so,

it's not impersonal for me.

That'll effect you everyday.

(air swoosh)

(air swoosh)

(intense music)

- my dads really proud of this.

We've got animals in this room from africa to north america.

It's kind of a traditional alaska value.

This is the first bear I ever shot I was 10 years old

when I got him with my dad.

- I've got a junior in high school,

a sophomore in high school, twins that are eight years old.

My wife and I just had out bonus baby (laughs).

While we have a real high crime rate per capita

as long as your kids don't take in with the wrong crowd

it's still a really good place to live

and a really good place to raise your family.

(dramatic music)

it's Friday night, after hours

and people have been drinking.

There's just absolutely a corelation with alcohol

and with dangerous crime in this town,

they go hand and hand.

So I'm available for any calls that come in.

- 10-4.

City s-9, there's a lot of traffic down here.

This is a big party.

- I don't know, there's probably 15, 20 cars here.

I'm definitely waiting on somebody else.

(laughs)

- situations like this require basically

a whole shift to deal with that amount of people.

0-5 is that you down the street?

- [meredith] who's house is it?

- That they rented the house from airbnb?

- [man 1] I'm not really sure who's house it is.

- Okay, all right man.

- The front door is open too.

- [officer 1] yeah, okay there's a gate here.

- [meredith] a lot of them seem like they're underage.

I hope there's not a kid in there

who's last name rhymes with mine.

Do your parents know where you're at?

- Then go.

When you got a whole bunch of kids drinking at a party,

that's just a recipe for a problem.

- [officer 1] it's the police!

- [officer 1] whose house is this?

Why's everybody running?

Oh you're going out the back?

Don't be dumb.

-Whose house is this? Who's in charge?

- [officer 1] fairbanks police.

Come on get up.

Who rented this airbnb?

- [female 1] I did.

(dramatic music)

- [meredith] you need to get out now.

Ugh, it smells bad.

- City s-9, we got about 25 more kids inside the house

we're dealing with.

It looks like it was an airbnb that was rented.

Oh (beep)!

This is out of control.

Everybody pile in, let's go, everybody in.

- [officer 1] everybody that's out here, in here.

- [meredith] 10-4.

Okay, do all of your parents know

where you guys are right now?

- Yes. - Yeah.

- They know you're planning on staying

at a rented out airbnb that's rented out by an 18 year old

and everybody's drunk.

- [meredith] literally, we could be here all night long

like writing tickets, it's Friday night

there's other stuff going on.

- 10-4.

Just hang on to that for minute.

Let's find everybody a safe ride home.

Kids are going to party here like they do in the lower 48,

but you party too hard here in the winter time

and you wonder off drunk

and then fall down you're gonna die.

We can't just let them walk out if they're a minor and

walk off and something happen to them.

- Hop in the back and put some seat belts on.

- Yes, sir.

- This is your ride out of here your chariot.

All right you guys, have a good night.

- Sorry if I'm being a bitch

I'm just freaking cold.

- You're the one who wanted to wait outside.

- Did I?

- Yes.

- Where are you guys relinquished from

anchorage or something?

- Fairbanks.

Here's the cab.

- You're more than welcome.

Everybody left with somebody sober.

They're all getting home problem solved

the house is locked up

and none of them were my kids, so

(laughs) that's good.

(air swoosh)

(air swoosh)

(dramatic music)

- it's about one day out to wheels up in the air

heading home and getting out of kotze for two weeks.

My energy's starting to spike here

the last couple of hours of the shift.

You know my sargent is on day shift, he's at home asleep.

Not where he'd get into anything at this point.

(phone rings)

- kotzebue police.

And have you told them they're at the wrong apartment?

And do you know the person who's trying to get in?

Okay, I'll let the officer know.

- Which apartment?

You said she's outside of the building or inside?

- She's inside the building, but outside of the apartment.

- En route.

We're on our way over to an apartment complex

where we have a female who trespassed

at her old apartment.

23

778 bravo.

- 10-4.

(dramatic music)

- no one's outside the apartment,

I'm gonna make contact with the caller.

Hello, did you call?

- [woman 3] yeah.

- [odom] what's going on?

Where she's at?

- [woman 3] I don't know she just left here

I had to kick her out and I called you guys.

- How did she get in?

- [woman 3] she has an old key code

'cause she's a old housing manager.

- [odom] what's her name?

- [woman 3] (beep)

- okay, did you see what direction she went in.

- [woman 3] no.

- Alright, I'll see if I can't locate her, talk to her.

Dispatch the subject is gone before I arrived.

- 10-4.

I'll be en route there now.

While dealing with one call, now we're going

to another call

between.

- 10-4.

I'm 23, I'm gonna be heading up to apartment (beep).

- 10-4.

- This is gonna get hectic.

(women arguing)

- [woman 4] go!

Get the out of my apartment, you're no good!

In front of my kids, I have three kids!

- [woman 5] who stabbed my...

- [woman 4] get the (beep) out of my apartment.

Go!

- Whoa, what's going on here? - Babe!

- She needs to leave my apartment.

- [odom] it's time for you to go.

- [woman 4] both of them, both of them.

- It's time for you to go. - Scaring my kids and

they're fighting. - We don't live here?

- [odom] well it's time for you to go.

- No but you don't live here, you've gotta stop.

- That's my phone, that's my phone.

- What's her name? - Yeah, that's my phone.

- What is her name?

- [woman 4] (beep)

- that's the same person who just tried

to break into this other apartment.

Hey, (beep)

- [woman 6] she's not a threat.

- [odom] yeah she is.

- [woman 6] it's okay, stop.

No, what are you for real?

- Don't know where she took off to?

Damn it.

- She might still be in there.

(dramatic music)

- turn around and place your hands behind your back.

- What did I do?

I didn't do anything.

- If you weren't doing anything you wouldn't run from me.

Dispatch 7-0, I have (beep) detained.

- Hey! - What now.

- [woman 6] hey, wait!

- Key?

Where are my keys?

- Why is she being arrested?

- She is being detained you need to back off.

- She did nothing, nothing wrong.

- She is being detained you need to back off.

- We were going home (beep).

- Stop yelling at me, okay?

- Oh (beep) arrest me then.

I know my rights,

I took legal school and she did nothing wrong.

And we're going to sue you guys.

- Back away.

- Get your (beep) filthy ass hands off of me.

- Back away from me.

- People have a right to know what they're doing.

- It's frustrating when you are the sole officer

in a very remote area.

You know, I can't look everywhere at one time.

Someone could easily pull a gun out on me.

- Dispatch.

- [dispatch] 207.

- I have a situation escalating here,

I need sargent hughes to assist me right now.

- Don't need to arrest her. - I don't wanna be.

- You are violating so many things right now

you need to leave.

- Let me go, please.

- So, I got a call you were trespassing

at your old apartment.

- I don't have a key to get in or

I'd of put you in a long time ago.

- Here's kotzebue police department for you.

- You were cooperating from the beginning,

but your friend is not helping, okay?

- I lost the key in the middle of...

- I have a solution, we're gonna take her back inside here

until we get a key to get in the unit.

Come on.

Can you explain to me

why you went into this house over here tonight?

- [woman 5] she wanted me to go hang out, her.

- So you're saying that she invited you over there.

- My friend was like wanna drink a few before we go?

And...

And...

- You can cancel him I located the key.

Alright so did you enter the code to go into the door?

- I did.

- Okay, I appreciate your cooperation, alright?

- Come on let's go outside.

- Okay.

- Okay.

- All right.

So, where are you gonna go tonight, if I let you go?

- My mom.

- Where's your mom at?

Over at (beep) residence.

- Yeah.

- Okay, I'm gonna take you over there, okay?

- Okay.

- She's posing no threat, I won't be arresting her.

I'll give her a summons to go and appear at court

for trespassing.

(solemn music)

- no, no, no, you can't hug me, okay?

But it's okay, it's alright I'll shake your hand.

You can't do that, alright?

But, I want you to know that I'm here to help you, alright?

And I'm here to help your sister.

You can't hug me.

I know you want to but you can't.

- It's okay, we're fine.

- Let's make sure you get inside, okay?

- Okay...

(dramatic music)

- we're heading out super delayed flight,

but we're going and we're heading out right now.

We're fixing to board. - Excited to go

- I want to get some sleep.

- Oh I know how it is.

- There's not very many arctic police officers,

and so I feel fortunate to be one of the few.

(laughs)

- see you guys later.

- I feel I'm doing very well at it and should be sticking

around here for quite some time.