This Weekend’s On Patrol: Live Highlights, Commentary, and Social Media Activity

After a two-week holiday hiatus during which re-runs aired, On Patrol: Live returns this weekend with actual live episodes.

An On Patrol: Live recap including NYC studio host Dan Abrams’ puns, analysis, and banter with co-anchor Curtis Wilson (a Richland County, S.C., deputy sheriff), and Captain Tom Rizzo (Howell Township, N.J., PD) along with the often-snarky or playful social media reaction, follows.

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Highlights: Inclement weather throughout the south was the most notable aspect of this episode. As On Patrol: Live host Dan Abrams observed, “This is gonna be a long, snowy, rainy night here on On Patrol: Live…we are keeping an eye on a lot of departments with some really bad weather tonight, and police are having to deal with it.” Monroe, La., Officer Serenity Smith’s foot pursuit of a suspect also generated a significant social media reaction.

Agency updates: The Clayton County (Ga.) Sheriff’s Office makes its On Patrol: Live debut this weekend. Some of the familiar 2024 agencies are, however, absent from this episode.

For background information about the documentary series On Patrol: Live (i.e., Live PD 2.0), that airs on the Reelz channel (which is available, e.g., on the Peacock and FreeCast streaming services and on some satellite and cable systems ), click here.

And click here for information on the Live PD vs. On Patrol: Live lawsuit settlement.

On Patrol: Live Summary for January 10-11, 2025 (#OPL Episode 03-45)

Please review this important DISCLAIMER.
  • Clayton County, Ga. — Amidst some freezing rain, Ofr. Mikel Jones conducts a traffic stop. Ofr. Jones explains that “so we pulled this car over, like I said before, because…we smelled the odor of marijuana as we were coming up looking for another vehicle that was doing donuts in the area. When we pulled her over, I could immediately, when I walked up to her, I could really smell the odor of marijuana. When I asked her about it, she confirmed it. There was marijuana in the car, and she tried to put it off on her friend, and she told me that she had about three and a half grams of marijuana under the seat. So we’re gonna go ahead and search the car, and we’ll see what we got.”

Ofr. Jones follow-up: “So, me and Deputy Clark just got done searching the car, and she told us, when I asked her, she told me there was three and a half grams of marijuana in the car. We found well over an ounce, a couple ounces actually, so that’s explaining why she was so nervous and trying to get back in the car and all that. She knew she didn’t have a jacket in there, no black jacket in there, so that’s what you get for trying to be nice. So, she is gonna be going to jail today. I will come back and tell you what the charges are gonna be once I tally everything up. We also found an open container…” A ledger book is also allegedly found.

  • Richland County, S.C. — On Patrol: Live host Dan Abrams: “We’ve got to head over to Richland County, where they are also experiencing difficult weather throughout the southeast.” Along with other units, Sgt. Shannon Tolman briefly provides backup on a highway car accident but then responds to another accident nearby.
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Abrams to the On Patrol: Live studio panel: “What is one of the other things people do when it’s rainy and cold? Drink. They go to bars. They go to bars, gentlemen.” Cpl. Carli Carr responds to an alleged possible disturbance at a bar and makes contact with a man outside who says he consumed about six beers and one shot of liquid marijuana. Cpl. Carr repeatedly encourages the subject — who seems to compliment her on her headband — to call an Uber to take him home. On Patrol: Live caption: “Not taking a hint or a taxi.”
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Dep. Abdul Tarik makes contact with a couple at a residence on a 911 hang-up call, but determines there are no issues at that residence. The male exclaims “we’re gonna be on TV!” Dep. Tarik explains that “clearly they aren’t dealing or having any domestic, so we’re gonna walk around and see if we can hear yelling from somewhere else.”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Sgt. Marcus Booth,. Ofr. Jonathan Muniz, and colleagues converge on an apartment and detain a male on the porch and a female inside. On Patrol: Live caption: “Possible home invasion.”

Abrams: “A neighbor actually called in a broken window, and Captain Rizzo, you pointed out that the house was empty though.” On Patrol: Live studio Analyst Tom Rizzo: “Yeah, the house is empty, so right away, I’m thinking maybe some type of relation to that apartment, and maybe they’re going back in after having that their occupancy taken from them or whatever the case.” Abrams: “We shall see.”

Ofr. Muniz recap: “…two people going into a vacant apartment. We peek in the windows over here. We see him; we don’t see any furniture or anything. So as soon as we go ‘police come out the door,’ he comes to try to go to the back door. He’s got his gloves on; he’s at gunpoint. He willingly gives up. I go inside with Sergeant Booth to clear the apartment. Another female comes out, we go ahead and 10-12 her. And right now, nobody’s outstanding. And then we’re gonna get in contact with property management so that we can verify if anybody lives here or not.” Sgt. Booth adds that “So as we pull up, there’s two bikes right out front there. Obviously, we come back around here. You can see there’s glass on the ground. That window was broken out. So we can clearly see in there that there’s people walking around in there. You can hear them talking. That’s when we knocked. I seen him come to the door. A female took off to the back room. We ended up, detaining him back here and got her inside…” According to Abrams, the homeowner wants to press charges.

  • Richland County, S.C. — Master. Dep. Braylyn Salmond conducts a friendly traffic stop for speeding and subsequently releases the driver with a warning. “Slow down, man; the road’s wet.”

Listen to some of the deputy’s interaction with the couple:

  • Richland County, S.C. (pre-recorded segment) — Master Dep. Collins Harper attempts a traffic stop on Crown Victoria with blue lights (and operated by a possible police impersonator) which flees. The driver is detained after a foot bail. “Dumb decision…we the police, not you.” Dep. Harper also spots some warm McDonald’s apple pies left in the car: “Can’t let those get away.” The motorist, who claims he was scared, faces multiple charges.

In the audio clip below, Dep. Harper outlines the charges against the suspect followed by a studio panel discussion about the Crown Vics (that are supposed to be stripped down first) becoming available at auction:

“Dumb decision…we the police, not you.”

Monroe, La. — Ofrs. Nathanael Chapman and Serenity Smith, and other members of the High Enforcement Apprehension Team (HEAT) squad, detain a man outside a gas station on an outstanding warrant. In the audio clip below, Ofr. Chapman provides some background on the encounter:

  • Humboldt County, Cal. — Dep. Luis Bonilla responds to what appears to be a head-on collision in a downtown area. No injuries.
  • Clayton County, Ga. — Ofr. Jones initiates a traffic stop to warn of a safety hazard, i.e., a back window covered in snow.
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Dep. Tarik and other units respond to a report of an assault at a dollar store. Store security footage appears to show a woman allegedly punching her male companion.

Cpl. Mikayla Ortiz recap: “So it does look like an altercation did take place. She did punch him in the face on camera very blatantly. He is bleeding all over the floor. There’s blood at the front of the store. So the story does check out. It looks like they had an altercation because he talked to the cashier without his girlfriend or whatever she is with him. And she didn’t like that. Unfortunately, though, due to the fact that the victim’s not here, we can’t press charges on his behalf without him telling us. And we can’t even identify who they are. I’m gonna look for a receipt to see if I can get a name nailed down. But if I can’t, then we’re pretty much at the end of what our investigation can do.” Abrams: “Wow. I feel bad for the cashier there.” On Patrol: Live co-host Curtis Wilson: “Cashier? What about the guy?” Abrams: “…he picked his partner.” Rizzo: “It was on sale.” Abrams: “I’m kind of curious to see if they find him because I was waiting to see that video, and it’s so clear.” Wilson: “He has to be the one to be the victim…”

“Unfortunately, though, due to the fact that the victim’s not here, we can’t press charges on his behalf without him telling us.”

  • Knox County, Tenn. — Ofrs. Nathan Dotson and Rachel Greene provide a well-being check on a car on the side of the road. On Patrol: Live caption: “Vehicle assist.” The driver says he’s okay and that help is en route. Abrams: “We’re seeing some ugly weather out there.”
  • Triple Play #1 — A “wild pursuit” in Moore, Okla.
  • Monroe, La. — Ofr. Smith and colleagues conduct a traffic stop outside a liquor store. Two occupants. Car search.
  • Knox County, Tenn. (pre-recorded segment)– Ofr. Joshua Durham and other units detain a neighbor who allegedly won’t leave a residential property. A weapon is allegedly found in a backpack. Weed also allegedly found. “There’s puke all over the driveway.” Four hours later, cops serve a search warrant on the subject’s nearby residence.

“But the puking was not the evidence.”

Listen to Ofr. Durham recap what cops found in the search followed by a studio panel discussion about the investigation and the related charges (Wilson: “talk about this individual who left a trail of evidence from puking from one to another…” Abrams: “But the puking was not the evidence.”):

  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Cpl. Carr and Dep. Tarik conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle in a parking lot. Three occupants. Car search; open container allegedly found. Cpl. Carr mentions that a double homicide occur in that location two years ago.

Cpl. Carr recap: “…the vehicle smells like marijuana, and one of the people did actually have marijuana on them. We started searching. I found another bag of marijuana inside the car, and then, right on the dashboard, I found, like, a little Samuel Adams keychain. I opened it up, and there’s a blue stamped pill. Typically from appearance, from my law enforcement experience, that’s gonna be MDMA, ecstasy. It’s possible it could be a fentanyl press pill, so Tarik’s gonna test it, but just from what I’m looking at, it looks like MDMA. So he’s gonna get a meth test kit, because people don’t know this, but ecstasy, well, there is meth in ecstasy, so he’s gonna test that probably two ways, but neither one of them are claiming ownership. All three of them were inside the vehicle; it’s in the center console area so all three of them had access to it so it’s constructed possession. So all three of them are gonna go to jail.” Abrams: “Our founding father Sam Adams would not be happy about that.”

  • Clayton County, Ga. — Ofr. Jones makes another traffic stop for a back window covered with snow. The female driver clears off the snow and is released. Abrams: “Again, people not accustomed to snow…we were commenting that she doesn’t have a brush to wipe the car because it doesn’t snow there.”
  • Knox County, Tenn. (pre-recorded segment) — Abrams introduces the segment by quipping that “often we see people try to ditch officers. Recently…Officer Travis Field encountered a man who found himself literally in one.” Police make a well-being check on a man who was reportedly “stumbling all over the place” and then appeared to fall down an embankment as Ofr. Field arrived on scene. The allegedly intoxicated subject denies urinating on himself. Cops agree to escort the man to a relative’s home.

Listen to some of the friendly police interaction with the subject:

  • Knox County, Tenn. — Ofrs. Dotson and Greene make friendly contact with some motorists doing donuts in an empty and snowy strip mall parking lot. On Patrol: Live caption: “Powdered doughnuts.” Abrams: “Having a little bit of fun on a snow day in Knox County.”
  • Monroe, La. — The HEAT squad detains a man who was purportedly walking in the middle of the road. On Patrol: Live caption: “Drug paraphernalia found.” Cops arrest the subject for alleged possession.
  • Humboldt County, Calif. — Dep. Daniel Dodd detains a man on warrants. Also suspended license.
  • BOLO segment — Franklin, Tenn.
  • Richland County, S.C. — Given the risk of car theft, Dep. Salmond admonishes a driver who left his car running outside a convenience store. Weed allegedly in the vehicle. The driver and a female passenger are subsequently released with no charges after they stomp out the weed.
  • Clayton County, Ga. — Lt. Jonathan Carey and other officers search the area for three men, one or more of whom were allegedly brandishing guns.
  • Triple Play #2 — a Little Rock, Ark., “wild car chase.”
  • Knox County, Tenn. (pre-recorded segment) — Ofr. Luis Sanchez conducts a traffic stop on a driver who insists “I got illegally pulled over.” K9 alert on car. Drug paraphernalia allegedly found.
  • Richland County, S.C. — Dep. Salmond admonishes another driver who left his car running unattended outside a gas station.
  • Humboldt County, Calif. — Dep. Dodd and other units arrest a man at a residence on a warrant in connection with an alleged parole issue.
  • Richland County, S.C. — Dep. Salmond and other units investigate an alleged assault at a residence.

Dep. Salmond recap: “So what we gathered so far is a husband, his brother, and then the wife had some sort of dispute. The wife got into it with her brother-in-law. They started tussling on the floor, and her son grabbed a knife to defend his mom from his uncle. And he said he didn’t plan on using it, but he got the knife. Uncle snatched the knife out of his hand. The uncle cut his hand when he snatched the knife. And the lady’s husband took his brother to the hospital. We got a unit going to the hospital now. And units still trying to gather more information to see exactly what’s gonna be done about this situation. The son said that he saw his mom and his uncle tussling on the floor. So I’m not sure if she wants to press any sort of assault charges. We haven’t gotten that far yet. But right now, that’s what we got. The weapon was a knife, tussling on the floor between a wife and her brother-in-law. So that’s what we got right now.”

  • Monroe, La. — Ofr. Smith deploys a taser after a foot chase on a man who foot bailed from a traffic stop. Other members of the HEAT team provide backup. A female who allegedly was a passenger in the vehicle who shows up on scene is also detained. See Ofr. Smith’s recap below.

Abrams: ‘Once again, we see sometimes the limited impact of a taser.” Rizzo: “It’s a stark reminder that the pieces of equipment that we have, it’s not a guarantee. OC spray, tasers, batons, you see it all the time. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. So you have to be able to adapt on the fly and have a plan B.” Wilson: “Fifty thousand watts on that thing. If it doesn’t have a great connection — she was using what’s called a dry stun instead of letting the prongs come out. So she was putting it to his body, but if it’s not a good contact, it’s not gonna work as effectively as it should.”

Abrams: “So she is now being arrested for in some way obstructing the investigation. Because I think we have the video of this, and I want to play it. This is the video of her as the passenger in the vehicle, getting out of the vehicle, and then getting into said vehicle, and driving it way.” Rizzo: “While the foot chase is happening.” Abrams: “Right. And while — and then they were looking for the car. They were trying to figure out what happened to the vehicle that had been involved.” Wilson: “Unless she has a twin, that’s it right there.” Abrams: “…she denied that she knew where the car was.”

Ofr. Smith recap: “So both of the individuals are gonna go to jail. He tried to disarm me twice so that I wouldn’t tase him again. He said he darn near pooped on himself. He’s gonna go to jail for resisting. And he also pushed me too, so battery on a police officer as well. She’s gonna go for obstruction as accessory after the fact. I’m gonna tow the car due to the crime itself. I’m gonna have them search it as well.”

  • Humboldt County, Calif. — As the On Patrol: Live episode ends, Dep. Bonilla responds to an alleged domestic disturbance and makes contact with the parties. On Patrol: Live caption: “Father-son dispute.”
CLICK HERE for the #OPL 03-46, January 11, 2025, recap  [forthcoming] .