Hondo Gravel

Watching Cops on some network don’t know I think it was Reelz. Anyways 99% of the people being hauled off to jail are either drunk or high on drugs. 100 pounds overweight or 100 pounds underweight. Now I like a few beers now and then but not as a professional lol. I credit biking and hiking and a passion for the outdoors keeping me inline. Pushing the miles beyond the comfort zone to challenge yourself physically and mentally. The natural endorphin high is a good healthy buzz. Enough of the show Cops for now some of these people are beyond crazy.

Seattle Forrest

If I want to watch cops I'll go for a walk.

Ken2

Are these new or reruns? I got hooked on watching Cops ("Bad boys, bad boys...") back in '05 when I was laid up for a couple months. Watching this show is addictive!

canklecat

I've never found Cops or similar pseudo-documentary crime shows entertaining or amusing. It's exploitation that primes gullible viewers to be fearful, and promotes a very one-sided view of law enforcement, which is often complicated and ugly. I can't recall ever seeing an episode of Cops that showed law enforcement officers misbehaving or being abusive, but we've all heard those stories and seen the video.

But in a former life I was a newspaper reporter covering the police, fire and emergency response beat, and now live in an increasingly high crime area. So I've seen enough of the real thing to satisfy any morbid curiosity I might have. I saw a few instances of corruption in the police and sheriff's departments I covered. But back then we rarely reported on corruption and abuses in law enforcement, which was a shame. We neglected our duty and public trust as journalists.

Frankly, the proliferation of surveillance video, phone video and car/traffic video capturing the real thing has made shows like Cops superfluous. And self-styled citizen journalists don't hesitate to show the gritty details, regardless of consequences. I subscribe to a couple of YouTube channels that don't merely replay surveillance video of violent crimes, but offer analysis of what went wrong and how it could be prevented. The hosts are often retired law enforcement officers who have a lot of experience and enough maturity to analyze these incidents without macho militaristic posturing. TV shows like Cops rarely did that.

SkinGriz

Did you hear about the gang members who stole the women’s life savings? At DFW airport?

Just wrong.

skidder

One of the Discovery networks channels has a show about smuggling, most shows taped at airports or border crossing points both in the USA and abroad. Yep, a lot of it is drug smuggling and the unique ways the narcos hide them and how the LEOs find them. But also a lot of other contraband - pre-columbian artifacts being smuggled out of South America, artifacts smuggled out of the Middle East/Egypt, asylum seekers and their false passports, money laundering (cash hidden in suitcases/clothing), bird and reptile smuggling, counterfeit products (almost always from China), counterfeit documents (including blank passports!). Locations have included USA border crossings (Canada and Mexico), Bogota, Sao Paulo, Madrid, somewhere in Germany (I forgot!), and more I can't remember. Pretty interesting stuff!

Dylansbob 

I live in a sketchy part of town with a bar across the street. I have had all the crazy scenes of that show outside my house, only the cops are friends with the owner so they rarely show up or do anything. I have video of a guy unloading a pistol at point-blank into a customer on the sidewalk, no one reported it and the employees/customers went out and cleaned up the casings so they could pretend it never happened. I sent videos of that, another shooting, and regular fights and the police still wouldn't investigate.

SkinGriz

So when they confiscate cash, is it money laundering or alleged money laundering? Are people allowed privacy in their financial affairs? What happens in the future when inflation turns everyone traveling with a days wage into what the state says is a criminal?

And what’s the point? War on drugs? Drugs won a long time ago.

Notice now people are arrested not for selling drugs, but for not having the right permit to sell drugs.

clemsongirl 

When there is a breakdown of the reciprocal relationship that should exist between law enforcement and the community the image of law enforcement can be diminished and more importantly it can become a cycle of mis-use of force and hence even more community mistrust. To your point, better and transparent public information on police use-of-force and mis-conduct incidents can provide a good descriptive analysis, especially of civilian injuries and deaths, resulting from police encounters. That can also help in the discussion of contextual factors associated with police use of force and mis-conduct and can improve and better inform policing policy and practices. I do feel good about those communities, like mine, that do want humane policing that honors the dignity and diversity of their community by implementing more effective and responsive unique and diverse types of policing.

skidder

IIRC its folks that are taking cash over $10,000 out of the country with no viable explanation or proof of where it came from. It's the 'Feds' trying to prevent the outflow of money/profits from the sale of contraband in the USA (drugs and other illegal goods). If someone comes up to immigration with $9000 they start asking questions and search their luggage/person for any extra. Obviously trying to stem the flow of profits from drug sales to Mexican cartels and Colombian narcos, but they also find large sums of cash going to Africa and Asia.

coffeesnob

love that show and love live PD except its now not PC so I have to watch reruns on you tube. A lot of these cops are babysitters for petty theft robbers and drunks.

indyfabz

I love when they pull drugs out of a pocket, pants, bra or purse and the person says “That’s not mine!”

SkinGriz

War on drugs.

Because every society needs an underclass to feel superior too.

It’s also important to note that the only differentiation between legal and illegal is scale and lobbying.

50PlusCycling

“Cops” started in Broward County around 1990. In those days I lived in Sunny Southern California, mullets were in fashion, and my few interactions with law enforcement were neither voluntary or positive. But only 10 years later I found myself patrolling the streets of Broward County wearing green and white. Many of the guys from those first episodes of Cops were still on the job.