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Yes they are.........as kindling.....

I didn't realize you worked for AST. I thought you were APD only.

My whole career has been in rural departments starting in the VPSO program. I hardly recognize them anymore either.

Some guys are just wound up too tight especially newer or just younger ones in general. Sometimes they get excited about "results" and dive in too fast without a plan or an objective and get a little spun in the process. I know. I still have to reel them in on occasion. It takes some years of experience to settle down a little.

The ID thing doesn't necessarily have to be approached immediately, you can have the conversation starting with just a name and informal conversation to break the ice, feel the person out a little and get them comfortable with talking to you. You can break into the ID/drivers license request a little further on.

Thank you for the open and honest dialog about this practice. I understand the lack of patience and "tact" you speak of when it comes to new Officers but I am still curious about why presentation of ID was even necessary in the situation presented by the OP here?

As I understand it probable cause of a possible crime being committed or the need to file additional official paperwork would be the only legal justifications for an ID request or detainment even at the Department front counter. I ask this because when ID was requested and taken away to the back he was actually being "detained" by legal definition. Right?

It's hard to say. We all (mostly) go to the same academy, but the Trooper recruits have an additional department specific 4 weeks they attend. Some of this has to do with their policies.

I also know that just about all their encounters with the public are at least documented through dispatch to account for a public contact and their time. ID request could either be to have a name to go with the public contact or they could have run the OP just to make sure there no wants or warrants.

Well, no one ever called me a quick study, but I do learn. If my value as a citizen is largely a data point, I will keep that in mind in avoiding future interactions. I have no interest in helping another eager ladder-climber earn a merit badge at my expense. Nothing positive comes of it.

I've only had positive encounters with the AST. But then again, the only officer I have had an encounter is also a family friend. He's also the local fish & game cop for the island he lives on.

His office is an old Piper Super Cub with floats. Great guy with real world common sense.

Thanks for being my friend Stan S.

Could one say, if you want my ID you can't have it in case its self incriminating? LOL.

Generally speaking I still feel that about 80% of LEO are really just normal great folks in our area. I can't comment about other areas and wonder about big cities... but as noted I met two of the best nice folks from APD around 3AM some years ago... I"d have had ZERO issues with a ticket either.

This.

Unfortunately, the value of all of us as citizens isn't much more than a data point. Look at how many census' are taken in between the Constitutionally stipulated 10 year census'.

The bigger govt gets, the less value you are as an individual.

A good example is about three years ago DPS approved changes to the traffic accident report forms every agency in AK uses to document motor vehicle accidents.

The old 12-208 form was actually pretty simple. It had a series of boxes around the border of the form and it took a few minutes using a code key to write in the codes in the boxes then you could get down to the nuts and bolts of vehicles, drivers, seating positions and the narrative of the event itself. Add in few photos, recorded interviews and a diagram of the scene and you were pretty much done.

With the new form, you can spend HOURS entering in the statistical codes before ever entering one word about the chain of events themselves.

Believe me, those burdensome forms aren't dragged out unless there is absolutely no way to avoid doing so, which usually means a fatality or a serious injury at the very least.

It's all about the (formerly)Almighty Greenback Dolla.