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

A recap of the February 1, 2025, On Patrol: Live episode (#OPL 03-52), anchored in the NYC studio by attorney and host Dan Abrams along with co-host Curtis Wilson, analyst Tom Rizzo, follows.

 [Best viewed in Google Chrome.] 

Highlights of the show include a Monroe, La., chase, the determined search for dope on the side of the road in Hazen, Ark., Daytona, Fla. and Berkeley County, S.C., traffic stops, and — of course — the new On Patrol: Live swag. In addition, judging by the relatively mundane incidents aired so far, some members of #OPNation wonder if there might (or might not) be content limitations in terms of what the viewing audience has seen so far of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

The studio panel continues to publicize the aforementioned On Patrol: Live merchandise that is sold on the newly launched Amazon OPL store.

How to Watch On Patrol: Live

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 on this link.

Note: Click on this link for the On Patrol: Live recap of #OPL episode 03-51, January 31, 2025.

On Patrol: Live Recap for February 1, 2025 (#OPL Episode 03-52)

Please review this important DISCLAIMER.
  • Las Vegas, Nev. (just prior to air) — Officer Austin Shupe attempts to make a traffic stop on three mini bikes who don’t pull over. Officer Shupe says it’s “not a pursuit, but I’m gonna just check the area.” One mini-biker is detained. “Is there any reason?” Officer Shupe: “What do you mean, ‘is there any reason’? You see your boys take off, and then you stay behind because you can’t get your bike going.” Another biker that police separately detain is, per Abrams, “cited for obstruction and has a scheduled court appearance.”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Sergeant Christopher Maher initiates a traffic stop on an allegedly swerving car. Sergeant Maher to the driver: “Are you always so, like, animated?” Probable cause car search. Officer Carlos Queliz called to the scene to evaluate the driver. Abrams: “It seems Sergeant Maher just wants to make sure he’s not under the influence of something, that he is just a naturally animated and gregarious kind of guy…happy, likes to share.” The driver is shortly thereafter determined to be okay and released with a warning.

Sergeant Maher initial explanation: “So this guy was driving crazy, like whipped around the corner in front of me, like almost ran into oncoming traffic, did a U-turn in the middle of like a major road. Light him up, he stops immediately; obviously you can tell he’s a bit of a character. He had a blunt in plain view, a little bit of marijuana, tested positive for weed. He had a medical card but it expired, so it’s illegal for him to have marijuana in the state of Florida, so we have probable cause to search him and the vehicle.”

“Are you always so, like, animated?”

Sergeant Maher adds that “I had probable cause to search the vehicle. There’s nothing in the vehicle illegal other than that initial joint I saw. It’s like really old; like he must have left it in there. This guy’s acting very elevated, in my opinion. So I called out another officer that’s more advanced in intoxicated driving type investigations…it might be he’s just a strange guy. I’m gonna trust his professional opinion out there, not mine…” Abrams: “He’s just elevated. Captain Tom Rizzo is elevated! It doesn’t mean he’s on drugs or weird. Either one…” Rizzo: “How many times have where you could see, like, your initial suspicion might not turn out to be what it is.” Abrams: “But he took his time, right? He didn’t jump to conclusions. He said, ‘you know what? Let me get someone on here who knows this stuff better than me.'” Rizzo: “It happens frequently. It happens a lot more frequently than people would think.” Wilson: “Better safe than not.”

  • Clayton County, Ga. — Deputy Ray Everett backs up Sergeant Joseph Toombs, and other units at a traffic stop for an expired tag. Four occupants who are Mirandized. Odor of weed allegedly coming from the vehicle. On Patrol: Live caption: “Guns found.” For one of the occupants that might allegedly be connected to a machine gun, Sergeant Toombs asserts that “he might as well just cancel his plans for this weekend. He ain’t going nowhere for a while.” Abrams update later in the show: “The backseat passenger was arrested. The other three in the vehicle were released with no charges.”

Prior to the update, listen to Sergeant Toombs discuss the status of the investigation, including the legal issues involving the firearms:

Abrams earlier mentions that “machine guns [are] generally illegal throughout the country,” and then asks Captain Rizzo about traffic stops and the Miranda warning. Rizzo: “So normally routine questioning, right, ‘where are you coming from, where are you going to? What’s your name?’ Those types of things would never require that. So he was specifically explaining they’re in custody now. So custody plus interrogation or any type of question that would elicit an incriminating response would then require Miranda. So he was explaining that to them. ‘That’s why I’m gonna read you your rights.’ But people always wonder, you don’t have to read that if you’re asking people how they drank or anything like that. Routine questioning never requires Miranda.”

  • Richland County, S.C. — Master Deputy Addy Perez makes contact with the occupants of a parked car in an otherwise empty parking lot. She reminds the motorist that he should carry his physical driver’s license on his person and that having it on his phone is insufficient. The On Patrol: Live cameras spot what appears to be chicken bones on the ground. On Patrol: Live caption: “Is there a bone to pick here?” Abrams quips that it “could be a littering violation.”
  • Richland County, S.C. (pre-recorded segment) — Master Deputy Collins Harper attempts a traffic stop for expired tags and a window tint violation when the car flees and a chase ensues. Sheriff supervisors terminate the pursuit, but another deputy shortly thereafter spots the vehicle in question abandoned at an apartment complex. LEOs make contact with the owner who say she doesn’t know who was driving her car. For now, deputies will file a stolen vehicle report.

Deputy Harper recap: “So there’s obviously — she’s trying to protect someone. You can guarding it real hard. So we’re gonna do the stolen vehicle report for her. And if it comes to light that it was not actually stolen, then it’s a filing a false police report. So that’s kind of the route that we’re kind of going right now because the dog tracked right over here. Everything kind of points to this apartment right here.” Abrams: “Captain Tom Rizzo, frustrating for the officers investigating, because they have a pretty good sense of what they think happened.” Rizzo: “Sure, and you’re that close. It’s like you’re right there, and then all of a sudden you hear those critical words of ‘no more.'” Abrams: “And Curtis, the pursuit was actually called off there. What is the standard in Richland County for continuing something like that?” Wilson: “Based on the charges that they have on the individual that they’re chasing. In this case it was expired tags, smell of weed, and window tint. Supervisors checking this out and saying, ‘okay, terminate on this one.'”

  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Corporals Rachel Salka and Hunter Rogers, along with another deputy. conduct a traffic stop. Two occupants. Upon questioning by Corporal Salka (who tires to reassure them that “I’m not the paraphernalia police, I’m not the gram police”), the female says there is nothing illegal in the car. The seemingly hesitant male, who appears to be wearing a ‘G-Baby’ softball shirt, replies “I really don’t know.” He declines a consensual car search, so Corporal BJ Nelson and K9 Kai are called to the scene. Corporal Salka explains that “so right now, we have some odd behavior going on. He doesn’t know if there is anything illegal in the vehicle, and he’s not consenting to a search. So without the solid affirmation that there is something illegal in the vehicle and without consent, we’re gonna get a K9 down here just based on all of that, and see what goes from here. But as of right now, he is stopped because of the tag being improperly displayed, and we’re waiting for other information to come back on him.” Probable cause car search after a K9 alert. Some drug paraphernalia allegedly found. The deputies find no drugs, and the occupants are released with no charges.
  • Hazen, Ark. — Chief Bradley Taylor diligently searches on the shoulder of a busy highway for something a passenger allegedly might have tossed out of a slow roller. Abrams: “A man with a mission.” Chief Taylor says that “I’m getting my exercise for sure” and seems to allude to Tom Rizzo encouraging him on fitness. Rizzo: “Just trying to help him out —getting his steps in, no problem.” The chief finally spots what appears to be a dope baggie. On Patrol: Live caption: “drugs found.” Abrams: “I can’t believe he found that — look at that — on the side of the road.” Rizzo: “Impossible. That does not happen.”

Listen to Chief Taylor’s recap:

  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Sergeant Marcus Booth and other officers investigate a possible burglary in an upscale residential neighborhood called in by the homeowner who is out town but watching on a Ring camera. Broken glass spotted. Cops enter and clear the house (no intruders found on the premises) and canvas the area for a possible suspect. Another burglary had occurred earlier in the day in the same area. Sergeant Maher: “this is matching the MO of a guy we’re already after. And according to the video, he matches the description as well.”
  • Monroe, La. — Corporal Guy Smith backs up another agency in a highway pursuit of an alleged stolen vehicle. Abrams: “It was a pick-up truck that went right by Corporal Smith. who made a U-turn there…” An individual soon after foot bails and is subdued (“I’m on the ground! I’m on the ground!”) by multiple cops on scene. On Patrol: Live caption: “Suspect in custody.” According to Abrams, “the guy basically admitted that the car was stolen. He said he got in a fight, ‘I took the truck,’ he’s insisting that the passenger had nothing to do with it. We’ll see what happens.”

Abrams: “It wasn’t easy, but they got him. A lot of officers involved in that. And Captain Tom Rizzo, we heard him talking about the passenger, right? Saying she had nothing to do with it…what kind of investigation do they do with regard to her?” Rizzo: “They’re gonna first determine what her involvement is, whether co-conspirator or possible victim…”

Listen to Corporal Smith’s brief summary of the incident to this point:

“I’m on the ground! I’m on the ground!”

Corporal Smith follow-up: “So he was saying that he had a fight with this guy over a girl. The guy was texting his girlfriend, and he knocked the guy out, left him on the side of the road, and took his car, and decided to go on a wild police chase… he’s recently been under the influence of meth, so if he’s not right now, his pupils were kind of showing some [unintelligible] that that may be the case. We’ll see. At least at the end of the day, he’s gonna go to jail, and he’s off these streets and not gonna potentially hurt anybody else.” Abrams: “In the end there, he confessed to more than just the vehicle theft as well.” Wilson: “The assault where he knocks the guy out and leaves him on the side of the road and then takes the truck.” Abrams: Right. So he’s now added, potentially, another charge there.”

  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Corporal Salka and a colleague respond to a noise complaint and ask the homeowner to tone it down somewhat. As an aside, the house has impressive workout gear in the garage. Abrams: “That gym looked like the Rizzo home.” As she is leaving the location, Corporal Salka briefly interacts with an apparent heckler. “Are you drunk? You sound a little intoxicated. If you are, you’re in public, and I’ll take you to jail, so why don’t you keep your mouth shut and go home.”
  • Clayton County, Ga. — Deputy Everett canvases a residential neighborhood upon a report of 10 subjects allegedly breaking into cars.
  • Triple Play #2 — A Clayton County, Ga., high-speed pursuit.
  • Las Vegas, Nev. — Officers Shupe and Tyler Hauger are on scene an apartment complex to investigate an assault. On Patrol: Live caption: “Responding to domestic incident.” After gathering information from the victim, they search the area for a suspect. Cops subsequently detain and question a pedestrian. Abrams: “If he isn’t the guy, then he happens to be wearing very similar clothes, and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We shall see.” Later in the show, Abrams claims that it’s “clearly the right person. The question is just did he do what she’s accused him of doing, and they’re trying to assess exactly what that was to determine what kind of charges there could be here.”
  • Knox County, Tenn. — Officer Luis Sanchez responds to an assault call and gathers information from three alleged victims. Cops subsequently detain a disputatious individual sitting in the area in the back of a Waffle House. Heavy bleeping. Paramedics summoned. Ofr. Sanchez explains that “So while we were actually talking to our victims over there, we heard some screaming and hollering back here. And it was actually our suspect. He decided to walk through the swamp, and he messed up his ankle. That’s why he was screaming and hollering. So he found out the hard way that you don’t walk through a swamp when you’re drunk.”

Abrams: “Well, he sure made that easy. I thought we were gonna have to be on the lookout for him, as we are in so many other cases. But no; guy in green fishing hat yelling and screaming right across from where the police are doing the investigation.” Rizzo: “That would be an indicator.” Abrams: “That would be an indicator. That would be a clue.” Abrams later claims that “so he is admitting that he hit the guy four or five times, but it sounds like he is denying some of the other allegations…” Rizzo: “Yes, so it’s like once again, they’re given the elements of the crime that they’re admitting to, but…” Abrams: “The more serious part would be the threat of the knife.” Rizzo: “Of course.” Abrams: “That would certainly escalate the kind of charge here.”

  • Monroe, La. — Corporal Nathan Wiens and other units investigate a break-in at a pawn shop. The owner comes to the scene and provides information about the incident. A female officer at the location appears unable, with or despite Corporal Wiens’ help, to check the roof. “It’s not the first time I’ve done this…are you capable?…first person in like five people that can’t get on my shoulder.” Cops clear the store (no intruders are still on the premises). Abrams: “Again? This would be the second time someone came through the roof?” Rizzo: “They must have some good stuff in that place.” Abrams: “I guess. I don’t know how you sort of end up metal plating the roof or something.” Wilson: “Criminals find a way.” Abrams later adds “somebody had robbed this place before, come through the roof. Seems like the owner of the pawn shop puts down these boards with nails in them, I presume as a deterrent, right?” Rizzo: “Except for Indiana Jones.” Abrams: “Somehow someone still robbed this place, and unless, who knows, maybe they’ve got someone walking around with bloody feet somewhere…”
  • Triple Play #3 — A Thurston County, Wash., stolen car pursuit, including the use of a police tool known as the Grappler. Abrams: “It’s a fascinating concept, right? Sounds great. Wow: You can use this thing, and shoot it out like Batman…”
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Corporals Salka and Rogers race to a gas station upon a report of one or more males supposedly brandishing a gun. Upon arrival, they determine that the report is unfounded and might just involve just some rowdy teenagers.
  • Las Vegas, Nev. — Officer Shupe provides backup on a disturbance involving alleged theft at a store and vehicle vandalism. Cops detain a male at the scene in the investigation
  • Butts County, Ga. — Lieutenant Hunter Nunn makes a traffic stop on a vehicle that allegedly ran a red light.
  • BOLO updates and new BOLO segment (Kansas City, Mo.)
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Sergeant Booth along with Sergeant James Maher detain an older male on a bicycle who they suspect potentially or allegedly might be the alleged burglar in the previous incident. Subject: “I ain’t did nothing.” Sergeant Booth alludes to the purported result as a function of “some good old-fashioned police work.” Abrams: “Innocent until proven guilty, but Sergeant Booth sure seems pretty confident that they have the right guy there.”