The latest wave of protest and social awareness of the Civil Rights Movement in America had many readdressing the way they view policing and the safety of people of color in the country, and that included how we entertain ourselves. Shows like Cops and Live PD a were a main focal point of that discussion of police action as entertainment, and now one state seems poised to end filming police reality TV shows altogether after the death of a man in police custody while cameras were rolling.
Texas is reportedly on the verge of making shows like Live PD illegal to film in the Lone Star State following the 2019 death of a man in police custody which was filmed as part of a Live PD taping. The New York Times reported Friday about the measure, which recently passed the Texas legislature and awaits signature from governor Greg Abbott. The bill would ban the filming of police reality TV shows in the state, meaning trouble for the already-maligned Live PD and other reality shows focused on police action on civilians.
The bill, which the Legislature passed with bipartisan support on May 13, is named after Javier Ambler II, a 40-year-old father of two who died in 2019 after Williamson County officers forcibly arrested him in front of a “Live PD” camera crew.
Mr. Ambler’s sister, Kimberly Ambler-Jones, 39, said she believed that her brother would still be alive if the television crews had not been filming. “Because they had ‘Live PD’ there, it had to be hyped up,” she said. “It had to be drama.”
Ambler’s death was a mystery to his family for months, and footage of his arrest never made it to air. The Times story specifically called out Cops and Live PD as shows unable to film in Texas, noting others that detail animal control or other activities would get a pass. But the measure certainly represents a reevaluation of what is classified as entertainment, and the impact that filming police activity as entertainment can have on those being policed. Despite decades of success for Cops and similar shows, the people taken into custody on those shows are real, and the consequences of what’s filmed can, unfortunately, be as deadly as any other interaction with authorities.