Extract from an episode of the program "Cops", during a police check, in Hillsborough, in the United States. - Uncredited / AP / SIPA

An institution on the air for more than thirty years in the United States. The controversial reality show Cops was unscheduled by Paramount Network, in the midst of a protest against police violence, following the death of George Floyd.

Paramount Network, a subsidiary of the ViacomCBS group, confirmed to several American media that the program was no longer on the schedule and that it was "not planned to return to it". Asked by AFP, Paramount Network did not confirm the information.

Eventful arrests

Since 1989, Cops has been assisting the police on the ground, filmed mainly during arrests, most of which were hectic. The program has been regularly criticized, in particular for exaggerating the scale of crime in the United States.

She was also accused by the Color of Change association of showing arrests of suspects from minorities in proportions that did not correspond to reality.

Under pressure from this campaign, Cops' historic broadcaster , Fox, had given up scheduling it in 2013. The show was picked up by the small cable channel Spike TV, renamed Paramount Network in 2018.

On Tuesday, the Color of Change association announced that the program had been rescheduled by Paramount Network "after our conversation with them this week," according to an official tweet.

JUST IN: #COPS has officially been CANCELLED off @paramountnet after our conversation with them this week and after millions of our members raised their voices to say stop #NormalizingInjustice! https://t.co/OKdAScgW3g

- ColorOfChange (@ColorOfChange) June 10, 2020

Suspects filmed against their will

In 2019, the Running From Cops podcast painted a vitriolic painting of the series, showing in particular that the police exercised strict control over the content broadcast.

"We found a lot of things that were not constitutional, legal, unethical, and did not meet the rules of policing," commented journalist Dan Taberski, author of the podcast, in an interview with Los Angeles Magazine.

He stated in particular that many of the suspects arrested did not sign a release in full possession of their means and were therefore filmed against their will. For him, the show had a major influence on the vision that many Americans had of what a “good” policeman was.

The police series checks the American PAF

Television

Technician Gunshot Killed On Filming "Cops"

  • Television
  • Racism
  • Police violence
  • Reality show
  • United States