OllieSuave-007
This is a reality TV series featuring true stories of law enforcement officers from various regions and departments of the United States. The television camera captures real footage of the officers in action as they serve and protect.Like cop show Real Stories of the Highway Patrol, this show covers a variety of cases from chasing down drug dealers to high-speed car chases. It is interesting seeing officers on duty in action, with a camera following their moves. At times, it can me more intense than watching a movie because the action here is real.Overall, this show has more adrenaline, action and intrigue than Real Stories of the Highway Patrol.Grade B
Michael DeZubiria
The first time I ever saw COPS years and years ago I was immediately and absolutely mesmerized. It is such a simple but incredibly brilliant idea, to bring a camera crew along with the police as they go about their daily duties. The cost of making a show like this is next to nothing, compared to the massive interest that it will find on mainstream television. I'm just amazed that a show like this didn't come out years or decades earlier, given that all it takes is a simple traffic stop to create a traffic jam, while everyone cranes their necks trying to see what's going on.Police activity always draws a crowd on the streets, so it's amazing to me that it took as long as it did for television producers to realize that police activity would draw a crowd on the air as well.The majority of the shows deal with small time crimes, like drugs or domestic disputes, crazy traffic violations, drunk drivers, and just basically screwed up people. Like some of the trashier talk shows, a lot of the interest in this show comes from just seeing how messed up some people are. I invariably feel like near royalty after watching an episode of COPS.But of course my favorite thing about the show is that so many of the incidents shown are so hilarious, intentionally or not. I remember one particular episode where they chased a guy down who was driving erratically, and then he jumps out of his car and runs on foot. The police chase him into the woods and finally tackle him, and on the way back to the police cars they start asking him some questions."Have you been drinking tonight?" one of the cops asks."No no no," the guy says. "I haven't been drinking tonight, officer, all I had was a 12-pack and a bottle of Southern Comfort..." Just tonight I saw an episode where the police were called about two women, very obviously transvestites or transsexuals, who were causing a scene at a local bar. Two officers arrive and are talking to them, and when they ask the police what the problem is, one of the cops says, "we got a call regarding the behavior of you, uh, um, uh, ladies at the bar tonight..." As far as I know the format of the show is pretty much exactly the same as it was when the show started, but the content is so interesting that there is no need for anything to change. It has been on for so long that usually when I see it on TV there are four or five or six episodes on in a row, sometimes more, and it is one of the only times that I ever find myself nearly glued to the TV.I guess you could say I love the show because I like seeing other people get in trouble, but in my own defense I should clarify that I only enjoy seeing that when the people deserve it. I like seeing criminals get busted, and it's even better to watch them stumble and blubber, trying to lie their way out of getting arrested, which they almost always do. It is also a great way for younger viewers to become acquainted with the cops and to learn about how badly committing crimes can mess up their lives, so the show can work as a deterrent to crime as well. It's true that it doesn't show a lot of the aftermath of the arrests, but I think the fear that people often show is enough to illustrate what comes next. I happen to have a much more in-depth knowledge of these things than the show could ever provide, and trust me, it's not fun. These people are really doing good work, and to top it all off, it's so entertaining!
anonreviewer
I used to be able to watch this show for entertainment value. Not any more. As I grow older I get wiser. I learned too much about life. Now this show just disgusts me.Most of what I see on this show is just the cops picking on people who are not hurting anyone. People who are for the most part just dysfunctional biological machines.This episode I am watching right now, they just arrested some guy for sleeping in the cab of his truck for a couple of hours while his kids were playing in the park nearby. Apparently he had a couple of drinks and dozed off. Oh, the horror! And they bust some poor guy who was soliciting a prostitute who was actually a cop. Haven't they got anything better to do? Here in Houston, they won't do a %$#& thing about the thieves who break into our cars for years. But they devote teams of people to bust some poor guy napping in his car or trying to have sex with someone else for money. Why can't the cops and the puritans and baptists just leave people the &%$#@ alone? I am in law school right now, and ya know what? I am going into criminal defense when I graduate. And it is not just this episode. Most of the episodes I see of this show &^%$# me off. Freaking puritans are in charge of this nation because of our low rate of voting. And why do our poor people not vote? BEcause this nation was set up from the start to discourage voting among the poor. THat is how the constitution was designed by James Madison.
TheComputerNerd
"COPS" is about when camera crews follow around police officers in their squad cars, having to deal with the general public in their communities and arresting suspects (the cops does know right from wrong). It beats reruns of "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives". I have been watching "COPS" and "America's Most Wanted" religiously every Saturday night for the last eight years. I can't find nothing worth watching on Saturday nights anymore. The most memorable episodes that I can remember is: when a 12-year-old called his mother a name and she had the police out, they had this teen girl in 1993 or 1992 that was high on drugs, she knew the police officer and was the strongest person. It took three or four police officers to handcuff her. Another episode when the guy was dress in a leopard suit. Then they had the sad episodes, when they had to find another guy hanging from a tree, or another guy that killed himself in the back of a store. The TV show came to a town two hours from mines I really wish that they would come to Topeka. I would like to see how the TPD handle the general public and arrest suspects without going on a ride along. After watching "COPS", I'm thinking to myself, "What a bunch of imbeciles." Then I'm very proud of how smart and law abiding that I am compared to the buffoons that they show on "COPS".
