It looks like another one bites the dust when it comes to the television shows that tell the stories of real-life police officers. On Wednesday, it was officially announced that A&E’s hit series “Live P.D.” has been canceled amid the recent protests against police brutality. The cancellation also comes after reports that the show filmed the 2019 arrest of a black man that reportedly died while being handcuffed by police.
According to Deadline, the joint decision was made by A&E and MGM’s Big Fish Entertainment. The show was first put on pause in the wake of George Floyd’s death, but it looks things have now turned permanent.
The network said in a statement, “This is a critical time in our nation’s history and we have made the decision to cease production on Live PD. Going forward, we will determine if there is a clear pathway to tell the stories of both the community and the police officers whose role it is to serve them. And with that, we will be meeting with community and civil rights leaders as well as police departments.”
News of the show’s cancellation comes the day after it was announced that the long-running show “Cops,” was canceled at the Paramount Network.
As we previously reported, a source revealed that A&E had been evaluating things when it came to ‘Live PD’ and that new episodes Friday and Saturday are “unlikely.” The show’s cancellation comes after it was renewed for an additional 160 episodes.
Dan Abrams, the host of “Live P.D.” spoke about the cancellation and said, “Shocked & beyond disappointed about this. To the loyal #LivePDNation please know I, we, did everything we could to fight for you, and for our continuing effort at transparency in policing. I was convinced the show would go on. More to come. . .”
It has been reported that Austin media outlets have been reporting about the March 2019 death of Javier Ambler during a police stop. The incident was allegedly captured by the “Live PD,” crew but the video has been destroyed.
The Austin-American Statesman reported about the incident and said that Ambler was pulled over by Williamson County Sheriff’s deputies after he failed to dim his SUV’s headlights to oncoming traffic. Deputies reportedly chased him for about 20 minutes before his vehicle crashed.
His final moments were captured on one of the officer’s body cam’s and released by the newspaper.
In the video, he could be heard telling the officers that he had congestive heart failure and couldn’t breathe before becoming unresponsive.
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TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94