Most troopers are the nicest people out there. The ones who have many years on the job are awesome. However, there are many who get washed out after about 2 or 3 years in.
While I believe this is probably true, the fact that the Troopers seem unwilling to bend when any suggestion is made that some aren't doing things well, means that the bad ones languish in the system, and perhaps even endanger their co-workers. I have sometimes wondered if the tragedy in Tanana might have been avoided had there been a different response to the Kodiak encounter which was embedded in the News Miner link I posted earlier. I didn't know the father well, but I had met and conversed with him a couple of times. He was obviously, in hindsight anyway, a rather disturbed individual. But one would not have known that from a casual encounter. Negatives tend to build up.
Another part of the AST PR difficulty is that they mostly tend to avoid developing meaningful public relations in the small communities they are assigned to. Coming into the small communities almost always for the purpose of investigating an alleged crime, or making an arrest, is hardly an effective way to develop trust. Those who make their rounds through the villages, talk to kids and adults, and overnight a few times a year tend to have a much easier time with difficult cases when they arise.
