'Cops' cancelled after 32 seasons amid anti-racism protests

The original reality show that took viewers behind-the-scenes of the police force is done for good. Paramount has confirmed that, in the wake of the current anti-racism protests and calls to defund police forces, the series won’t return for its previously planned 33^rd season, which was supposed to kick off on June 15.“Cops is not on the Paramount Network and we don’t have any current or future plans for it to return," a network spokesperson confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. The publication notes that episodes of the series were pulled as of June 1, but old episodes currently air on U.S. channels WGN America and streaming service Pluto TV. While sources confirmed WGN will stop airing episodes after its commitment runs out at the end of June, viewers can still access it on Pluto.The reality series featured various police officers and law officials as they made routine arrests and dealt with prostitution and narcotic cases. Although it ran for 25 years on Fox and then seven more on Spike TV (which became Paramount), the show faced a lot of criticism from those who felt the series glorified aggressive police behavior and potentially coerced subjects into signing waivers to appear on the show.The cancellation is something civil rights group Color of Change has been advocating for since 2013. The group took to Twitter following news of the show going dark to applaud the decision. “Crime shows like #Cops have a huge influence over the way the public thinks about criminal justice and by misrepresenting this system,” the organization wrote. “These shows turn people against overdue reform efforts.”

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

Around the same time Cops was pulled from air, A&E’s policing reality series, Live PD, was also taken off. That series follows police officers in real time and has faced its own criticism, especially in light of an incident in March 2019. Police pulled over a 40-year-old Black man named Javier Ambler who reportedly had his highbeams on while returning home from a poker game in Austin, Texas. The postal worker, according to police, refused to pull over for 20 minutes and after he came to a stop, with Live PD cameras rolling, the deputies held him down and used tasers on him four times despite the man saying he had congestive heart failure, eventually killing him.Body cam evidence of the death was released on June 9 this year, in which Ambler was heard saying, “I can’t breathe." His death report was ruled a homicide according to a report filed with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, as he died of "Congestive heart failure and hypertensive cardiovascular disease associated with morbid obesity, in combination with forcible restraint." There was no sign of intoxication. Meanwhile Live PD released a statement saying they have since destroyed their own video evidence of the event, which was never aired. "Video of the tragic death of Javier Ambler was captured by body cams worn on the officers involved as well by the producers of Live PD who were riding with certain officers involved,” A&E said to a local ABC news station.[video_embed id='1974631']RELATED: Janelle Monae calls on white allies to stand up to racism [/video_embed]"The incident did not occur while Live PD was on the air, but rather during the show’s hiatus, when producers are regularly out in the field gathering footage. The footage never aired on Live PD per A&E’s standards and practices because it involved a fatality,” the statement continued. “Immediately after the incident, the Austin Police Department conducted an investigation using the body cam footage they had from the officers. Contrary to many incorrect reports, neither A&E nor the producers of Live PD were asked for the footage or an interview by investigators from law enforcement or the District Attorney’s office.”The network then absolved responsibility by adding that the footage had been destroyed because they had learned the investigation was over. “As with all calls we follow, we are not there to be an arm of the police or law enforcement but rather to chronicle what they do and air some of that footage,” the statement continued. “Our policies were in place to avoid having footage used by law enforcement against private citizens.”At time of press, A&E had yet to comment on whether new episodes of the series will return at all.[video_embed id='1974196']BEFORE YOU GO: Kerry Washington’s wise words about the Black Lives Matter movement [/video_embed]