For some, the police are the bad guy, the anti-hero, the fouler of good times and the basher of parties, and though it might seem that they are just out to make arrests, a lot of the time these assumptions are completely off base.

"If someone's doing something stupid and drawing attention to themselves, I'll make contact. If they're being responsible, not breaking any rules, being respectful, there's no need for me," said UAF's Officer Alan Keeler.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about the life of a police officer can sign up for a ride-along at the Police Department, but it probably won't be what you were expecting. It's not a glorious, slam bang, action movie scene, and it's not like the show "Cops," where from one minute to the next there's a new car chase going on.

"The movies do take some truths, while also taking some artistic liberties," said Keeler. For the general public, it's sometimes difficult to know what to believe.

Though the UAF Police Department says they focus the majority of their attention on the campus, they do get calls that are close by that they can get to faster than the Fairbanks Police or the Alaska State Troopers.

While off-campus, on the prowl for a stolen vehicle, a bright red truck sped past and the radar gun confirmed Keeler's visual assessment of a speeding vehicle. After pulling the driver over and doing a series of field sobriety tests, the individual was arrested and taken to jail. To verify the driver was in fact intoxicated above the legal limit, a breath alcohol test was administered, which confirmed Keeler's suspicions. While waiting for the results, Keeler had a chance to talk with the arrested individual.

"You always get a sob story," Keeler said. "On one hand you feel for him, on the other hand lots of people have died from drunk drivers. I've got a family, I feel a lot safer every time we get a drunk driver off the road."

There are many important steps for an officer to go through before even being able to go out on patrol. Because defense attorneys can get an offender off for mistakes and oversights by the police officer, the officer must be diligent when on duty, checking and rechecking all equipment, recording all encounters with suspects they question, and doing everything by the book.

"We must be very careful with procedure. A good lawyer, actually even a decent lawyer, can get criminals dismissed very easily," Keeler said.

For a police officer, everything happens in extremes. "You either get the offenders who are very cooperative, or very belligerent, rarely in between," Keeler said.

"It's either dead or it's really busy," said Jennifer, a dispatcher who declined to give her last name. Usually one can assume that Saturday nights are the busiest hours for an officer, but Jennifer looked at it a different way: "Saturday nights are busy, but it's usually the days that are busy, the nights that are serious."

Even though the nights are considered more serious, with a greater likelihood of something unfortunate happening, Keeler asked for the graveyard shift to spend more time at home during the day. "I do it for my family," said Keeler, "My two and a half year-old son is my pride and joy."

While on campus, Keeler noted a car parked in an illegal parking area. After checking the license plates and finding the owner, he made contact with her rather than having it towed. "I'm not out to get people in trouble, just to keep them safe," Keeler said.

Although some areas have become more troublesome, Keeler is very happy with the Student Apartment Complex. "Parties have slowed down on campus." Keeler said.
"Which is good, lots of things happen at parties that don't normally happen." He pointed out a stumbling, swaggering student. "I can tell he's obviously intoxicated. Do I care? Not really. He's not harming anyone, he's not a threat to himself. You've got to give them the benefit of the doubt. Now I'm not promoting drinking, but if it happens, it's better to be done responsibly."

Keeler knows what to look for when speaking with a possibly intoxicated driver. "There are signs to look for. Staggering is obvious, a fresh lit cigarette, wad of fresh gum, strong minty, pepperminty smell, the inability to do multiple simple tasks."

Drinking and partying is common on any campus and getting busted is as well. But the police not trying to get as many busts as possible, partly because the paperwork sucks and it's not worth it, but also because they understand what it is like being in college. If you're able to have fun while respecting other's rights, that's fine, but, as Officer Keeler puts it, "If you're doing something stupid, then I'm gonna have to bust you."