‘Alaska PD’ premieres Jan. 1

By
Suzanne Downing
-
12

SHOW FEATURES FAIRBANKS, KOTZEBUE, KODIAK, PETERSBURG

“Alaska PD,” a new show on the A&E Network, will bring the challenges of Last Frontier of justice to the rest of America on New Year’s Day, when “the line between civilization and lawlessness can be razor thin,” according to the A&E promotion.

The show will document some of short-handed police departments around the state, where local forces “must turn to officers from the Lower 48 to fighting a soaring crime rate.” Fairbanks, Kodiak, Kotzebue, and Petersburg are featured in the series.

“Alaska PD” premieres Jan. 1 at 10 pm Eastern Time. The series will then move to its regular time slot on Thursdays at 9 pm.

“They face numerous dangers found only in Alaska, not just from people who want to be free from the rules of society, but also from encounters with predatory animals roaming through town and sub-zero conditions that can be deadly and unrelenting,” A&E wrote. ” In a state where guns are carried as part of everyday life, officers often have to protect an entire town by themselves while enforcing laws many are unwilling to follow.”

[Read: Pirate has returned to Fairbanks,and some are concerned]

In Kodiak, a focus will be on nuisance bears, and in rural Kotzebue there is a federally declared law enforcement emergency and the U.S. Department of Justice is directing millions of dollars to bring law and order to violence-ridden villages.

While Kotzebue had a higher violent crime rate than any other Alaska community in 2018, Petersburg has a crime rate that is 1.5 times lower than the national average. But there are always Vikings to contend with.

The first episode features newcomer police officer Jamie Ramos of Virginia, who becomes Kodiak’s only female cop and quickly has her first encounter with a Kodiak brown bear. The episode also features Fairbanks Officer Gerrit Butler, a former mixed martial arts professional, who brings down a suspect who also knows a bit about martial arts.

[Watch the action-packed promotional video at this A&E link]

The show is following the successes of other Alaska-based reality series, such as “Alaska State Troopers,” which gained national popularity as a documentary series on Alaska the National Geographic Channel in 2009. “Gold Rush,” “Deadliest Catch,” “Alaska Bush People,” and “Men in Trees,” are others that have focused on the quirks and quacks encountered in Alaska.

“Alaska PD” is produced by Engel Entertainment and Noble Savages for A&E Network.

12 COMMENTS

  1. “Petersburg has a crime rate that is 1.5 times lower than the national average”

    What does “1.5 times lower than” mean? Show me the math.

  2. Spoof photo. Fairbanks PD officer facing a Kodiak brown bear? Another fantasy in reality TV. Series ought to be a real joke.

    • Hey King,
      Did you know that “brown” bears are the same as grizzly bears? The main difference is the bears’ food supply and where they live. The coastal brown bears enjoy a much heartier and less varied diet than inland bears, with fish as the main food source for those coastal bears, though they eat most anything, it seems. Inland bears eat various animals (whatever they can), more rodents, berries and vegetation, than coastal bears, and less fish. Thus their size and ‘brown’ shades of color difference. If a brown colored, big bear is within 60 miles of the coast, it’s officially a “brown” bear. 60 miles or more inland, away from the coast, that same bear is a “grizzly”. Their food sources determine size and colorization. Proximity to the coast determines their ‘name’.
      TV thrives on sensationalism. Photo shopping is not uncommon in their hype. Surprising how many viewers believe it.

      • Good points, and thanks Ben. Fairbanks rarely gets any bears in or near town. An errant griz on occasion. But nothing like the behemoth in the photo. That’s a Kodiak Brown. The FPD officer was probably looking at a giant hare, which was then photo shopped. Or, it could have been a drink waving around a 9 mm.

        • Gotta love online “experts” such as yourself. You’re so full of it and believe that we all take your every utterance as truth, that you actually state the “truth” about shows that haven’t even aired yet. Well, it has aired and….yes, they ran into an actual bear. Derp

  3. The PD producers always pick a locale with almost guaranteed “crimes” for the hero policemen to solve. It makes better TV. I’m not so sure their picking Alaska is anything to be proud of. It only tells me that Alaska has a high enough crime rate that they won’t waste any episodes. As long as they stick to leftist controlled areas, they will have plenty to film. Outside those areas, not so much.

    • This should be a wild series. I watched them tape a segment last summer when a drunk stepped out of the Mecca Bar and pursued a tourist for money using a butter knife that he stole from the restaurant next door. The restaurant’s gay waiter was ranting and raving at FPD for taking too long to show up and yelling that the Fairbanks mayor was anti LGBTQ.
      The FPD never found the criminal because he slipped back into the Mecca for another drink. Only in Fairbanks.

  4. I will be saving time to try to catch t.v. show…are the Brown Bears Grizzly Bears…???????? I’d like a honest man to say that..cause in my mind that would make Spirit Bears////Polar Bears..so to me it does not make sense

    • Hi Diane,
      Yes, brown bears are grizzly bears, if they are 60 or more miles inland from the coastline. Their names are derived from their geographical location, not genetics. It does seem that all bears would be sub-species specific only to themselves, but that’s not the case with brown/grizzly bears. I don’t know a lot about ‘spirit’ bears. You would have to clue me in there.

  5. Officer Jamie Ramos did a great job! She brought all her knowledge as a LEO from Virginia to Kodiak. She will be a great addition to the police force in Kodiak!!

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