Alaska State Troopers will make their prime-time debut this week in a new series on the National Geographic Channel.
The documentary, titled "Alaska State Troopers," kicks off its five-episode season at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Wednesday with "Ice Patrol," an episode about policing the Last Frontier, starting with the 2009 Arctic Man Ski and Sno-Go Classic.
According to National Geographic, the episode will document "Alaska's version of Mardi Gras" and 13 troopers' efforts to keep order in a crowd of 10,000 people. The show will also follow troopers fighting crime in Fairbanks and wildlife troopers working cases of illegally killed animals during moose-hunting season.
"It is certainly a way that people can see the reality of what we do," troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said of the series Monday. "We are unlike any law enforcement agency anywhere else in the U.S."
Peters said production company PSG Films first pitched troopers an idea to do a single one-hour show back in 2007. That evolved during talks into the series, she said. Filming took 10 months beginning around fall 2008.
Film crews followed troopers -- both blue (police) and brown (wildlife) shirts -- around the state, from Soldotna to Nome, documenting their travails battling crime in the most remote state of the country, Peters said.
Upcoming episodes include "Crime on the Kenai," "Alaskan Justice," "Alaska State Troopers: The Wild West" and "Drug Bust."
Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.
By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com