Play It Again Sam! Alaska State Troopers Coming Back To Reality TV

 FROM THE ALASKA BEACON 

Alaska State Troopers will return to reality TV in new series

BY: AMY BUSHATZ, MAT-SU SENTINEL - JULY 24, 2025 

 An Alaska State Trooper conducts a traffic stop outside Wasilla in early 2024. (Photo courtesy of Alaska State Troopers)

What you need to know:

• Alaska State Troopers are returning to reality TV after a 10-year hiatus, with a new show currently being filmed and set to premiere in 2026. Officials declined to share additional details, including the show’s name or network.
• Film crews have been spotted with troopers at various locations, including traffic stops in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. They will accompany troopers across the state over the next several months, officials said.
• Officials with the Alaska Department of Public Safety said they hope the show will help with recruitment and strengthen public trust.

PALMER — After more than a 10-year hiatus, Alaska State Troopers will once again star in a reality TV show, state public safety officials said Monday.

The show is set to premiere next year, Alaska Department of Public Safety spokesman Austin McDaniel said in an email Monday. Filming began last month and will continue through the summer, he said.

McDaniel declined to provide details on the title of the show, where it will air, or the production company behind it.

“Alaskans might see film crews with troopers in multiple locations around the state over the next few months,” McDaniel said. “The film crew spotted with troopers recently in the Mat-Su Valley is following the Alaska State Troopers for a new TV series premiering in 2026.”

Residents reported seeing crews following troopers at multiple traffic stops in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough over the past several weeks, according to a recent Facebook post.

The popular reality TV show “Alaska State Troopers” stopped filming in 2014 and aired its final season on National Geographic in 2015, according to the Internet Movie Database. AST ceased participation “to focus on the job of providing public safety without any added outside distractions,” according to a 2014 statement from the Department of Public Safety published in the Anchorage Daily News.

McDaniel said officials agreed to the new show in part to help with trooper recruitment.

“Ultimately, this new series is a strategic partnership we hope will build understanding, reinforce public trust, and highlight the vital role that troopers have in every corner of our great state,” he said.

Recruitment has long been a significant challenge for trooper detachments statewide. As of late last year, 17% of full-time positions were unfilled. Data on current Trooper vacancies was not immediately available.

While “Alaska State Troopers” was the last show dedicated to AST, it is not the only police show focused on the state. “Alaska PD,” which airs on A&E, follows police departments in Kodiak, Fairbanks, Kotzebue and Petersburg, with its most recent episodes airing in 2021.

— Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com

This article was originally published in the Mat-Su Sentinel, independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan online news source publishing since June 2024.